A Dream Is A Wish The Heart Makes
by trorylove
Summary: A broken heart, a shattered trust. One year later, Rory Gilmore is ok. Or at least she tries to believe so. Its up to the boy she thought would never grow up to mend her. Trory AU.
1. Chapter 1

A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes

_Coffee, must have coffee. _Rory Gilmore stumbled out of her 3rd year political science classes at 9 in the morning. _Who in their right mind schedules all the hard classes at 8 am in the morning and expects credit student participation?_

Other than Rory's distaste for the day, it was actually turning out to be quite lovely. A crisp autumn day, with the leaves turning colour and enough of a breeze to knock a few rebellious leaves off the towering oaks to crunch under Rory's boots. With students milling about in the courtyards discussing everything from Austen to Stoppard and atoms to Zimbabwe's political situation Rory should have been in heaven. But it wasn't meant to be.

"My God its early…" an equally cantankerous voice complained, "Logan, tell me why I scheduled and actually attend Ancient Greek Mythology at 8am?" Rory's head spun around, all thoughts of coffee immediately forgotten, her head unfortunately cleared. Logan with Finn supported precariously on his shoulder came into view around the corner of Branford Dorms.

"Because of the little red haired girl Charlie Brow…" Logan's voice trailed off.

_Please don't let him come over, please don't let him come over, I couldn't possibly deal with him now. I don't want to have to be brave today. Today is not a good day for bravery. _Rory panicked and spaced out, a zillion thoughts ran though her mind, none of them complete, all just ghosts, a part of the ether of memory, a miasma that could influence her negatively.

(Memory Reflections)

_Why won't you ask me out…you act like you like me, you flirt… I took a chance, I didn't want to be the other woman, I wanted safety, I wanted him._

_I can't do this anymore, its not me. We should have left it at that, I should have been stronger, I was so willing to let go…why did I have to change my mind._

_He stood up for me, he cared, he did it, he loved me, why couldn't he love me enough to stay with me._

"_Ace, I can't watch you do this, quit Yale? Even for just a year? Why won't you talk to me, at least if we commit a felony let me know why we're committing a felony. Come here, lay down, let me make you feel better…"_

"_In Omnia Paratus!"_

"_Ace, I need to see you tonight, yes its important…20 minutes…please? I know you're at Lane's gig…I just want to see you. I know you wanted me to go with you tonight, yes I know what tonight is, let me just take you out for coffee…"_

That was the night Rory Gilmore's heart shattered. On her one year anniversary, her boyfriend, her doting, caring love who spoilt her and took care of her, who introduced her to the other side, to spontaneity, to shredded lists, scruples and plans broke up with her.

Rory remembered it, better than she had thought she would, better than she wanted to. She showed up at his dorm, tired from driving, into his waiting arms. "Should have sent Frank for you Ace, sorry, I should have known." Logan whispered into her ear.

"I'm so tired Logan, can we just stay in? Wilbur can make me coffee instead, I don't think I can make it to the Starbucks." Rory was falling asleep in his arms.

"Sure Ace, the coffee makers already going…" Logan moved her into his dorm room and onto his bed Rory curled up and he stroked her hair softly, running his fingers up and down her arms.

"Hmm…." Rory opened her eyes, and saw him gazing intently, concentrating so hard, she wondered if there was a pop quiz tomorrow in Architecture 301 on the application of natural structures in buildings. He ran his fingers lightly, like a feather over her features, then slid beside her, and seeking security, Rory lay on his chest with her head over his heart, lulled into semi-consciousness by his steady heart beat.

_I know we've had our fights, insecurities and differences, but I just know we're going to work things out, we're not perfect, but I love him. I'll make it work. No, we'll make it work. Rory mused, with a half smile on her face, her fingers making small circles and nonsensical designs on his hand. _

"Rory?" Logan broke Rory's musings with a kiss on her forehead. I've been thinking about this for a while. Since I confessed that I almost broke up with you after your last trip to Europe. I was so lonely without you. You must understand. I called Cyndi up, we didn't do anything but talk, she was a good friend. But I felt so guilty, you'd become such a big part of my life, then you needed to take that Europe trip with just your mom. Why couldn't I stay faithful in my heart for just 2 months? I broke up with you because I don't deserve you. You forgave me and told me to trust what's in my heart. I'm sorry. I can't do this anymore.

(End Memories)

A sharp jolt to her shoulder brought her back to the present.

"Watch where you're going!" A random phi delt frat boy had jostled her on his way to catch a long pass thrown to get the attention of the girls.

"G'day Reporter Girl, haven't seen much of you since that unfortunate business, how have you been? Listen, I've got a party tonight at my dorm, in honor of it being a holiday somewhere in the world for some cultural event. Booze, men, and I promise on my honor Logan here won't be anywhere near the party. Just because he let a good girl go, doesn't mean I will. We miss you." Finn was amazingly lucid even though he was unable to hold himself completely upright. "Right Logan, aren't you going to Tiffi's place, or what's her name Cassandra's?"

Logan just smirked, though his eyes betrayed him to the knowledge of Rory.

"Sorry Finn darling, I don't think I can, perhaps another time. I really must be going, coffee, and class, and and and…" Rory's brain failed, so she smiled weakly, the smile never quite reaching her eyes, and did what Gilmore Girls did best. Ran.

_DAMN! Whoever said that ex-s can be friends definitely didn't have me in mind. Living being confronted with memories wherever I go is bad enough, its been a year, you would think I could get over him. But seeing him, I can read a thousand things running through his mind, I know how his mind works, not how he plays the game, not how he rebels, but why and the hurt. Its impossible to believe the act, when you know the motivation and the real person behind it. _

_Forget the coffee, I need a burrito. I guess when you get hurt bad enough, it follows you no matter what, until you learn a lesson from it. I've learnt my lesson, I've re-concentrated on my goals and ambitions, I just want to be left alone. Never mind, coffee's closer._

Rory Gilmore's day couldn't get worse. There was even a line-up at her favourite coffee stall. Worse yet, Paul or even Sharon wasn't the barista, if there was a lineup they would at least pour her a cup and give it to her while she waited in line to order and pay.

"Miss…MISS…" The annoyed barista was looking at her, "It's your turn to order…"

"I need a venti caramel macchiato." Rory sighed…

"That'll be $4.85" The barista barked…and then as he gave her a once over, and took in her frazzled appearance and panda eyes, softened.

"Oh no, I've forgotten my wallet back at Bramford. No, I'm so sorry, normally I don't do this…" The people in the lineup started to get impatient and sent Rory dirty looks. "Listen, this is unorthodox, but ask Paul or Sharon, I'm always here, and I've always paid, please I've had a bad day. Just let me have my coffee before it gets cold, I need the comfort so badly. I'll walk back to the dorm and grab the money. I'll be back here in no time. PLEASE." Rory was babbling.

"I'm sorry, I can't." The barista at least had the good sense to look sympathetic.

"Don't worry, add the Miss Mary's order to mine. I'll have a grande Americano." With a wink he added to Rory, " cause you know that Chilton knows that its grande, and that hasn't changed. Hello Mary, you look terrible. Before you verbally berate me and I won't get a word in edgewise. Give me 20 minutes. Please, in exchange for your coffee."

Rory looked at him dubiously then wearily. She finally nodded.

"Actually, add another venti caramel macchiato to the order, and put it in that thermos, just charge it all to this card."

Rory was incapable of speech anymore. She smiled her thanks.

Tristan smiled back, worried. Where was the fire-brand he had left behind that fateful night?


	2. A Brief History of Time

Disclaimer: They are not mine. I own nothing but my ideas.

In addition, I know very little about Yale and American Universities, I'm a canuck born and bred so forgive me for any blatant discrepancies. Also any references to persons past or present are purely coincidental.

**A Brief History of Time**

"Is there somewhere we can go and chat? You know catch up for old time's sake?" inquired Tristan.

Rory just glanced off into the distance, miraculously after all the tensions and turmoil she had just put herself through, she managed to find her voice. "There's a Japanese Garden not far from here, I…I like to go there for the comfort." She looked up, her eyes pleading for him to agree to accompany her there, to her refuge away from everything and everyone. She was unsure of why she was willing to share her special place with this boy, no, man that had reappeared as suddenly as he had disappeared, but she would eventually be happy that she did.

"Sure," he replied. "As you wish."

Rory gazed at him quizzically. She thought to herself, _surely he doesn't comprehend the magnitude of meaning behind those words. __Rory Gilmore, how well exactly do you know Tristan Dugrey?_

The walk to the garden was quiet, each lost in thoughts. Rory Gilmore concentrating on willing away the headache that always plagued her after being visited by memories. The near panic attack always left her a bit breathless, light headed and just a tad claustrophobic.

Tristan ran a hand through his short helter-skelter locks, contrary to popular belief, he did not grace the salon every other week just to obtain that highlighted look, his was pure sunshine. Between playing rugby with the guys and competing with the rowing team, his hair had over time, taken on the various shades of gold that contrasted nicely with his even tan. He was worried though, about the change that had overcome his Mary. He had known her better than she thought at Chilton, watching her at lunch, in class, even when making out with his flavour of the week beside her locker entranced by the enigmatic girl that was so special, even he took notice. He had been at Yale for a week, visiting his native land and calling upon those who he had an actual past with. Those few Americans he called friends once upon a time before hormones reared their ugly heads. He sent out emails to the few that he wanted to see, Paris surprisingly emailed back. She updated him on all the latest, her outburst on public access TV, her foray into the relationship with the older man, her fears that medicine may not be the life for her. He didn't even realize Rory Gilmore was on the same campus till Paris mentioned her. His eyes peaked with attention, hungrily considering if this was actually a second chance presented to him, or if it was just history teasing him with a barbed hook. Paris had warned him of how Rory had changed. His curiosity piqued he resorted to almost begging Paris to tell him why. She simply shook her head, three and a half years was too much to share without Rory's ok. Besides, Paris didn't understand Rory completely at the moment either. She simply warned him, "Rory's on a rollercoaster of emotions right now, some days are great, she's herself, other days… well just let me say, Rory left on her own is extremely volatile. She's sorting out who she is."

They reached the garden. Each wordlessly taking in the beauty surrounding them; the focus of the garden was a small pond filled with koi that soon would be removed to a heated holding tank once the winter set in. There was a pathway that wound through the grass and between tall coniferous trees, a pagoda shaped seating area across the way would provide them shelter while they sipped their coffee. Tristan took in the well kept look of the garden. In the eastern style, he could see that the gardener carefully groomed all the trees and removed dying leaves as they appeared on the branches, not a single leaf graced the ground in here, not a single dead pine needle or cone lay carelessly abandoned by its host. Each branch strategically moulded and pruned to fit in inconspicuously withthe master plan.He could see why she would come here. Control. Plain and simple, the environment screamed it, he hazarded a guess that she unconsciously hoped it would also fill her. Heaven knew she needed it back, whatever way she could get it.

As they sat, Rory jumped and then scrambled to find her cell phone without spilling her coffee. Tristan watched the emotions run across Rory's face. First reluctance, guilt, resolve, then vivaciousness? Once again he was unsure of his analysis, he had always thought she was an easy read. Her emotions exposed in her eyes and mannerisms but now he was getting a better idea of what Paris meant. Rory's emotions were changing so fast he was having a hard time reading her.

As Rory began to banter, laugh and make random comments about Quentin Tarantino being a cone head, Tristan recognized elements of the Rory he knew.

"Mom, yes I know, just because the blue sweater has been spotted in a different state doesn't make it a different sweater. You'll just buy it and then regret it…" Rory explained.

"Ok, I love you too, you'll be in San Francisco tomorrow? Ok, tell Luke I said hi." As Rory finished the conversation, the fire in her eyes died, her posture started to slouch and she took a long sip of her coffee, eyes closed like a druggie desperate for reality to disappear.

"Need a refill there, Mary? You seem to be really inhaling that coffee." Tristan inquired.

To that Rory simply smiled weakly and answered, "being bubbly requires copious amounts of caffeine and energy. Its good to see you Tristan, it really is, but what on earth are you doing here?" He poured the back up caramel macchiato into her waiting and empty cup.

"Taking a short vacation, came back here to tie up some legalities and say hi to some friends before I head back." Tristan replied.

"Glad to know I'm considered a friend, though the it begs the question of how you found me. When are you heading back to North Carolina? Are you at Duke?" once distracted, the Rory he once knew with the multitude of questions started to shine.

"Well you did promise me we were friends, before that party and before you said you hat…" began Tristan with just a hint of bitterness.

"Sorry about that, I always felt bad about saying that, I never meant it, I just…didn't want Dean to go away, I would have said anything to make him stay. Even that I loved him I should have known that if it took so much thought that it would have been a mistake. I would have apologized, but you seemed so distant and…how should I say… occupied when I saw you afterwards. I thought it didn't matter to you." Rory rambled. " I did mean it, the apology, not the hating thing."

Tristan cut her off with a smile, "no it doesn't matter now, and everything has sorted itself out. I didn't come for an apology or even to close our chapter in my life. Home for now is at Oxford, yes in England. I finished my junior year at military school in NC, and then I did my senior year at Eton. Some things happened, my cousin passed away, he was thrown from his polo horse. They say his neck snapped and he died instantly."

"I'm sorr…" Rory began.

"Don't be, he died doing what he loved, polo was his escape like rowing is mine. Just mine is slightly safer I suspect," reassured Tristan. "My Aunt Clarissa needed a heir, and I was her favourite nephew. My brother Reginald stands to inherit the Dugrey empire and I had always been off the hook to do as I willed, goof off, whatever, as long as I didn't mess up bad enough Daddy's lawyers would have taken care of it." Tristan reminisced.

Rory nodded in understanding, "I know what you mean, I've seen the other side, Huntzberger…" Rory's voice wavered, "Logan, was the goof off, but he is the heir, and he did so because he knew one day they'd force him into the mould. Painfully or willingly, he went willingly. I ended up with high school you under a different name. Funny huh?" Rory weakly attempted a laugh. "Go on. Tell me the rest? Distract me please." Tristan could only watch in amazement as the Rory he knew slipped away from view, replaced by this horrible replica.

_Does she actually think she fools anyone when the original Rory makes a brief appearance? No wonder Paris was worried. However, he could see her eyes call for help, even though Rory was still too proud to outright ask for help. It seems that at least Rory was aware that the way she was was not healthy. She just didn't know how to fix it though. _Tristan made a comand decision right then and there, he seemed to be making more of them as of late. He would help her, and not go away. She could control everything with him. How much or how little she told him, how much or little she let him into her life to help. He understood the responsibility that came with his decision. He would likely end up hurt by her in her confusion and naivety, whereas she may end up hurt by his good intentions. All he knew for certain, is that no one around her was able to help her, maybe because they knew her past, and she didn't like that. He was in a completely different position. One he would try to maneuver from.

"Well Aunt Clarissa is also Comtess Clarissa. Distantly related to the last of the reigning French monarchy. Aunt Clarissa was also slightly eccentric by society standards. She was a riot. She played by the rules and she schmoozed with the rest of the elite better than the D.A.R. ladies. However, when she changed her will and it became public knowledge, you might say she caused quite a scandal. I now stand to inherit the title. On my 21st birthday I will no longer be just Tristan Dugrey. I will be Comte Tristan de Montpensier. The Count of Montpensier."

"Wow…uh…wow" Rory was stunned. Once again her mind started racing with possibilities. _Why would he tell me this? I haven't spoken to him in more thanfour years! What is he doing here? What does he mean by he doesn't want to close OUR chapter in his life. He can'tstill like me if he ever liked me? I can't handle this right now? Wait, he's still talking…_

"If the truth was all it took to make you speechless I should have tried it sooner," joked Tristan. "The scandal is, although the title holds great wealth, enough to keep anyone in the highest standard of life imaginable, it all remains in trust. That just isn't "done" in society.However, thatway the family manages to stay wealthy regardless of how reckless the current Count is. It stipulates that in addition to attending at least 5 society events a year, ones that the Count or Comtess has always attended, I must hold down a job, give at least 15percent of my net personal income from the job to a charity each year. In exchange, I retain control of any trust funds placed solely in my name and in addition, each month I will receive a supplemental three million dollars. However that three million is the maximum allowance, should I act inappropriately, be discovered in an illicit scandal with even a shred of evidence or waste the money away it can be cut to only one thousand dollars, enough to save face at the black tie events and dress appropriately. That sort of thing. It made me grow up, made me prioritize. I've been given freedom from the Dugrey empire to do as I wish with my own. Until I'm 21 I have to request money from theMontpensier lawyers, I send all the bills to them, they have the right to make me pay my own bills if they deem them outrageous but they're quite good. They consider things like Lamborghini's outrageous and unnecessary, but that just means I get to drive a Beamer Z4 in the summerand an X5 in the winter. So my education and living expenses,the two cars, a few vacations, all paid for by Montpensier money. It was completely up to me to choose, I could have declined, no questions asked. I get less money now than I did with my father. I crashed my father's Maserati and my own Lamborghini within 4 days of turning 16 and he didn't bat an eyelash. There's a lot more control over the finances, but I'm happier. I had the freedom to grow up and make something of myself. Amazing thing is, I didn't have to choose to go into business or corporate law. I chose to study human rights law. Next year should I pass the bar, I'll be a human rights barrister. "

Rory could see how much the cock-sure little boy from Chilton had grown up. Through a chance of fate, or destiny, had given this boy masquerading as a man a way out. A way out of forced social obligation, of a domineering father constantly disappointed at how the back up heir was beginning to turn out. In comparison, Rory felt she had moved backwards. She had it all figured out at Chilton. The life plan consisted of Chilton, Harvard, now substituted with Yale, internships, hard work, the big break and finally being an overseas correspondent affiliated with the New York Times, freelance otherwise. Now? She didn't know. She was still studying full time, after Logan convinced her to come back to school and finish the journalism degree regardless of what his father thought. However there was no certainty after that. Her grades were ok, the emotional upset and time Logan took up had taken their toll on them. She was not top of the class, not even top 5. She had no standing job offers upon graduation. She had no security of the life plan. She was up the proverbial creek without a paddle with no idea how to get back on route. She managed to finally get out, "I don't know if this means anything, but I'm proud of you. You figured it out, your life plan, and you're still on track. You've got your future lined out before you and I really admire you."

Rory reached out and touched the back of his hand. Willing the physical contact to convey the sincerity of her words. The warmth radiating off his skin warmed her cold fingers and he instinctively but tentatively turned around and clasped her cold digits within his. As the tendrils of warmth reached out and cocooned both their hearts, Rory sighed, recognizing at least a temporary safe port to weather her emotional storm. A person to keep her grounded for the moment, linked to the present, not the past.

"Life is pain Mary. Anyone who says differently is selling something," comforted Tristan. Rory's eyes widened in shock and realization. "It would take a stone gargoyle not to realize the pain you let out when you let your guard down, I can feel it, and see it. Everyone can. Talk to me?" ventured Tristan.

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Author's Note: Thank you for reading, I'll try to update again by the weekend, or next week at the latest. I'm cramming for the MCAT on top of everything else and I had to pick now to get stuck in my head a story line that won't leave me alone and bugs me enough that I would hazard writing it down. I apologize that my writing is sometimes confused, I know the sentiment I want to express, but I just can't seem to find the words to explain it perfectly. In addition, I'm new to the whole getting my posts online etc. I am definitely not computer savvy. Some formatting mistakes occurred when I uploaded the first chapter. I will try to fix them. However, italics are thoughts. Constructive criticism welcomed. Oh, and The Princess Bride must be accredited for "As you wish" and "life is pain…"


	3. We May Have Room For Secrets

Disclaimer: They are not mine. I own nothing but my ideas. Oh and the definition for FINE was taken off a Gilmore Girl's fanfiction posting here, but for the life of me I can't find who to credit it for, cause I cant even remember the fiction it was used in. So please dear original author, don't nail me for it. If its you, just tell me and I'll edit the credit in where its due.

Rating: PG14 ? There is a naked buttocks in this chapter, slight though. I had to keep it in for character integrity. We May Have Room for Secrets, But Not Lies 

"I guess its my turn to spill," worried Rory, she quickly extradited her hands from Tristan's and started to fidget, her eyes darting to the sides, at the time display on her cell phone, even the edge of her coat held untold levels of fascination.

"No its not. I'm sorry if you got the wrong idea. I just wanted to make the most of my twenty minutes and repair whatever damage hormonal Tristan did in forming your opinion of me. That's more important to me than you'll ever know. Now I know I have your admiration, that's one step to true friendship. The next is respect. I know you won't believe it right now, but you've had my respect from day 1. It would have been so easy for you to say yes, be played, and reap the rewards of it afterwards. You would fit in with the Chilton girls, but no, you had to dance to your own beat, you absolutely had to go and be different. Other than that, I think we have room for secrets, but never lies. Those hurt more than anything else could…" Tristan desperately tried to redeem himself. The last thing he wanted was her to think they were going to move at his pace, wherever they were going. Unfortunately that seemed to be her conclusion.

"But…how…" Rory whispered in dismay, " how can we be friends now, with you across an ocean, and more importantly why. Why would you want to be friends with me, I'm not a Mary anymore, I've made mistakes, terrible, horrible mistakes. I've done things I'm not proud of, I'm truly ashamed of. Why would you want to be friends with something like that?"

"Stop that right now." Her constant negativity towards herself was grating on his nerves, and his worry was beginning to wear him down. "You gave me a chance after everything I did to you. It is in your nature to forgive and you do believe in second chances. Why is it so hard to believe that I could change, I could see that beautiful aspect of your personality and charm and incorporate it seamlessly into my own personality." Tristan finished with a sigh. "All I ask is do not run, I miss the girl that was Rory, and in all likelihood she's never coming back. But what I want to do is to be there for the Rory that will be. Let me be there, let me run with you if necessary. You have control here, maybe not anywhere else, but you have complete control here. I will support you. The way I never did. I lied slightly; I told you that I was just here for a visit. I'm here for a bit more. I'm here to ask you for a second chance. To woo you properly, the way a girl like you deserves to be courted."

Rory began to squirm at this confession and pronounce her inadequacies as an object of affection. "Tristan, I'm flattered but I'm not…"

"Don't finish that sentence, I don't want to hear the ending no matter what," warned Tristan. "I said I would never lie, I'm not, even now I'm serious. However it seems that you my dear Mary have some spring-cleaning to do. Or should I say fall cleaning. And I fully volunteer my services to help you pack away your "ghosts" or whatever is keeping you depressed. I advise you take me up on my offer my dear. I'll be bunking on your sofa anyways for the next few months. My lawyers need me to remain state-side for a while longer. Might as well give me something to do."

"I don't appreciate being thought of as a D-I-Y project Tristan, I don't need you, or anyone. I'm doing perfectly fine by myself!" defended Rory. "I'm fine."

"Sure you are Mary, always have been…" Tristan offered with a wink, "in two senses of the word, you're fine as in a classic beauty. Furthermore you're fine as in Freaked out, Insane, Neurotic and Emotional. All things I know to be part of Rory Gilmore's uniqueness, however, you are not fine as in 'I can in good faith, leave you alone to your own devices'".

Tristan checked his watch. It seems that while they were having their little bonding session, Rory had given him a lot more than his 20 minutes.

Rory's stomach as if on cue gave a growl that would have frightened a Great Dane. _No! Stupid stomach, why don't you embarrass me some more. _Rory berated herself while in retaliation, she started to make little gurgling noises. _If only it was something controllable…_

Tristan couldn't help but smirk. His darling Mary was now hunched over, not because of depression, but as thought she had the impression that the smaller she could make herself, the more of herself she could place between him and her stomach, the less noticeable the noise. It also didn't hurt that she was turning a most delightful shade of pink and rose that would rival a sunset as sea. Just as he was about to broach possible lunching options, her phone rang.

Rory looked at the id display and let out a small breath she didn't know she had been holding and allowed herself a small smile. Opening the clamshell she let the voice wash over her.

"Listen darling" began Finn " it is now still such an un-Godly hour, but since I'm up, and I know you poor wisp of a girl hasn't eaten yet, I might as well make it a Godly hour by combining your presence with mine. That combined with Four and Twenty pies, a good round of you boxing with Gerald my giant Kangaroo, fully clothed for your comfort of course and what else but Ms. Patty's Founder's Day punch. Let the ancient deities thank that woman for inventing a concoction so strong even I can feel it."

Rory smiled. "I wish I could do lunch, nothing beats boxing with your giant stuffed toy especially when Gerald and I decide to gang up on you but…" Rory's excuse was cut short.

"Cum'mon why won't you be a spunky Sheila and keep a lad company. Fine. I'll even make it strip lunch." Countered Finn.

"Dirty." Rory exclaimed, unconsciously channelling Lorelai.

"I meant loin," corrected Finn.

"Once again, I repeat. Dirty." Rory giggled.

Tristan swore, whoever put that smile on Rory's face was going to do so again. He didn't care who got the credit. So he stole the phone away from Rory, holding her at bay by extending his arm and placing his hand on her forehead.

"We'd be glad to take you up on your luncheon date. Strip lunch included," Tristan started.

Rory gave up, and relaxed against Tristan's hand, _let him bear the weight that is my head_

thought Rory. _It's the least he can do in return for stealing my phone._

"Tristan Dugrey, soon to be Montpensier. Complicated story. Anyways just wanted to say Rory will be keeping this date since whoever can make Rory giggle right now, needs to be beside her." Tristan told a shocked Finn.

"I do believe Mate, we've got a Reporter lover on our 'ands 'ere. Why don't you just include yourself in that invitation. Get Reporter Girl to dear Finnegan's dorm and I'll whip us up some food. Tell her not to worry, the hamburger is not here right now. Got to go now, Sandra's walking by, red-head you know, looks awfully scrumptious, may attempt a private appetizer before Reporter gets here with her mystery man. Sandra!"

Finn's call was cut off.

Tristan explained to his Mary, "well, it seems we've got a date at Finnegan's dorm. Shall we milady? Oh and something about an absent Hamburger?" He then proceeded to offer her his arm, which she took without hesitation knowing her ex was no longer in Finn's company, and set forth.

"Tristan?" Rory started.

"Yes Mary?" he replied. "Don't tell me, you think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Right?" he offered.

"Actually not what I had in mind, yes to that too after consideration, but…Finn's dorm, is in the opposite direction." Rory said with a small smile.

"Right, off we go then." A flustered Tristan attempted to recover.

Rory's smile got marginally bigger and bigger, then it finally reached her eyes, making them sparkle and dance in the weakening autumn light.

As they approached Finn's apartment, Tristan looked around in surprise.

"How old is Finn?"

"Oh, I'd say somewhere around our ages. Not to sure about that, He's a legend on campus for the parties, the women, and the nakedness. Although he's not as well known for the nakedness as my friend Marty, a.k.a. The Naked Guy. I know he's taken Greek Mythology and Women's studies as least three times… " Rory replied as if it was a matter of fact.

"Wait, wait, wait, my MARY, has not one, but two nudists friends? I knew you were a non-conformist, but I thought even you loved fashion too much to completely give it up." Tristan accompanied his statement with a playful leer. "So can I attend the next party you go to? You know, and record the proceedings for prosperity?"

All that earned Tristan was a healthy shove on the shoulder.

"Ok, sorry! Wow, for a girl, you really punch like a girl."

That earned Tristan a healthy Gilmore Girl glare.

"All I wanted to know was why we are on the Endowment Land properties and not the student dorms, I thought you may have pulled a Geller on me," explained Tristan.

"I guess I better explain Finnegan a little to you first. He's different, he's society as much as you or me, even more so. He got kicked out of the student dorms cause one of the guards he paid off to ignore a party and prank developed a conscience without notifying Finn. So he's never to step foot in one of the dorms again, but that was all right, they were building private residences just off campus for an outrageous price, the apartment complex supposedly has most of the Deans and the Chancellor living there. So Finn, decided in the ultimate act of bravery…or stupidity. He bought the penthouse. And sound proofed it. The only way to access it is with a private swipe card. The Deans and Chancellor can only imagine what he does up there, but they can't complain because they have no proof. Well, different may be an understatement, he spends most of his time inebriated, his cure for a hangover is alcohol but amazingly, his best and worst ideas come to him when he's drunk. He's just… a good friend to me, despite my circumstances. It's hard to explain. You'll just have to see for yourself. "

Rory walked right past the doorman as he held the door open for her and Tristan.

"Hello again Miss Rory. Don't worry, Master Logan dropped Finn off hours ago and hasn't been seen since." The doorman was on standing orders to let Miss Gilmore in at all times, she had been given the all access pass by Finn, seeing as how some of the trouble he got himself into needed a feminine touch. The doorman had also been privy to the exact nature of Rory and Logan's split since he was the first line of defence for keeping Rory safe from meeting Logan while visiting Finn.

"Thank you Joe." Rory smiled at the doorman, who not surprisingly had a PhD from India's Institute of Technology. All the way from a university where the student's back up school was MIT, to the good US of A reduced to a doorman. Well promoted as he said. From the brain tank to the brawn tank. Indian doormen doubled as security guards and physical bouncers. "How are Ravi and Angelina doing?" she inquired.

"Oh fine thank you Miss Rory. Ravi is all set for pre-med at Cornell and Angelina is off for a gap year teaching English back in India."

"That's wonderful. Have a good day Joe." Rory replied.

Once in the elevator she told Tristan that Joe had left behind all the perks he was entitled to in India to come to America and get a Green card so his children could attend schools where the degrees were more internationally recognized. He worked as a janitor and a doorman so his children could have a better life.

Tristan simply took it all in and nodded. He didn't understand why Rory was so critical of her mistakes, true, hind sight is twenty twenty, but could she not see what a kind person she was? She knew the story and history of a doorman? Not usually a person someone of "their" class would take notice of. Definitely not someone their grandparents or Tristan's parents would even know existed.

The elevator 'dinged' along, marking the floors, as they raced up to the twenty second floor. As the doors opened, a wave of music so loud it nearly blew them over greeted them. An opera by Verdi blasted from the Bose sound system. Tristan now understood part of the intelligence at soundproofing this penthouse. As this level, the opera would have been heard clearly on the street below. Finn came into view. Open arms ready to envelop Rory in a hug. Rory looked unfazed by this but Tristan was shocked.

Finn was wearing a cooking apron, one that covered the chest to the knees and tied in the back. However that was all he was wearing. As Finn spun Rory around, Tristan caught sight of Finn's tanned buttocks. Even with Rory's warning, Tristan was slightly shocked to see so much of any man outside of the locker room.

"R.G. darling, so glad you could make it. You too mate," Finn began. I began to make lunch, but oil burns hurt on bare arms…and other limbs, I'd prefer to leave them in the bedroom."

Rory laughed, and simply moved to introduce the now silent Tristan.

"Finnegan, this is Tristan Dugrey, aka Bible Boy, Spawn of Satan and E.T. oh and I guess pretty soon Tristan Montpensier. Tristan, this is Finnegan De Beers."

As each boy sized each other up with accuracy honed by years of meeting all walks of the social hierarchy they came to a conclusion. During their manly handshake compared to Rory's loving hug, Tristan put slightly more pressure than necessary on Finn's pinky finger knuckle to which Finn responded with quick swipe of his middle finger down the middle of Tristan's palm as the salutation ended.

"G'day mate, nice to make your acquaintance, Rory is evidently in a better mood than I left her this morning, so lets forget the pissing contest and eat. Or better yet drink." Finn spoke as he ushered them into the kitchen. "Old Rossini took over the cooking after I couldn't stand the burns. That's one thing Jessica Simpson and I have in common, if you can't stand the oil burns, get out of the kitchen. What'll you drink mate, dear R.G. seems to have found the dry bar…"

Rory poured an unhealthy amount of bourbon into a glass and was starting to drain it when Finn unceremoniously stuck a straw into the side of the glass and downed the remaining alcohol faster than Rory could get it into her mouth. Tristan simply lifted the glass away from her above her head.

"Kill joys." she complained at the boys. Finn reminded her of their deal.

"You remember our deal dear. My God those are good genes you've got but too much alcohol and you'll lose them, genes only do so much. Alcohol, well lets say that no matter how many times you get hit with a pretty stick afterwards, you'll never look as ravishing."

"Don't I know you from some place?" he directed at Tristan, "Ah yes that charity thing in Manhattan last week. You were there, with that gorgeous red-head model." Finn started.

Rory looked at Tristan, the confusion evident in her eyes. _I thought he had changed? Maybe not. I'm a bad judge of character everyone knows that._

Tristan looked at Finn a bit ticked off, "Careful there Mate," he spat out, "that's my cousin once removed you're talking about." Tristan reached for Rory's hand and started rubbing circles in her palm and she went down a level on her Defcon alert. "She wanted to go to that breast cancer benefit cause a person at her agency passed away because of it."

Finn's interest peaked, "Does that mean I can get her number?"

Tristan cryptically replied, "You can get it yourself, she's enrolled at Brown and she's prepared for all things."

Finn just grinned and Rory looked slightly lost by the exchange.

"R.G. darling, haven't you tested your Tristan friend? He moves in the right circles you know." Finn directed at Rory.

Now it was Tristan's turn to be confused. "What? Mary I'm lost here."

To which Rory replied, "You're never truly lost Tristan," and she pulled out a silver ring she kept on a necklace, one thats pattern matched ones on both Finn and Tristan's hands, "when you're amongst friends. In Omnia Paratus." She whispered.

Rory broke out into giggles. "I didn't even notice your ring Tris. I don't wear the ring on my finger cause everyone took it to mean the my ex-boyfriend and I were engaged. Our relationship actually began with us jumping off a ten story scaffolding in evening wear."

_I like that coming off her lips, Tris, it sounds like she had the breath knocked out of her or her voice hitched when thinking about me. _Then another realization dawned on Tristan's face. _Oh shit, I'm up against that kind of history!_ _Oh well, here goes nothing, gotta prove it one way or another. "_You're the ace up his sleeve."

Rory froze. The anonymity afforded her through Logan's continual use of her nickname seemed to shrink exponentially. She worried about how much Tristan might know of her background. Her comfort obviously decreased as she started looking for an exit route from the situation.

Finn and Tristan shared a glance and knew what they had to do before she ran out. They did the only sane thing, overpower her. The boys looked around for anything they could to restrain Rory from running. Both were getting a little tired of the situation as pretty as watching Rory's bum run away was, a man couldn't enjoy it while being privy to the knowledge of why she was running. Coming up empty handed, they simply plotted to restrain her themselves. With Finn only in an apron, the obvious choice was for Tristan to restrain Rory.

Tristan sat down and Finn unceremoniously plopped Rory onto Tristan's lap, he then moved to sit beside Tristan on the couch and hold Rory's feet as Tristan held Rory in his arms.

With no obvious way out, Rory did the only thing she could. She buried her face into the crook of Tristan's chest and arms.

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Author's note: Now I know why people beg for reviews. I think its power over an author can rival any drug, legal or otherwise. Now, I had to pound this out for all those nice people who reviewed. But I have to draw the line, the next update will be next week. As to clarification of the timeline for fionasong, there may be a spoiler or two in what I say next, cause I only have everything in my head, and I never know what might be pertinent later on. Rory met Logan the fall of (fall of second year). She went out with him for a year, and he broke up with her on their one-year anniversary (fall of third year), she had a year to get over him, but is obviously still having issues with her "ghosts". It is now fall of fourth year, which explains Tristan graduating from Law School. I do know in the UK professional degrees can be started straight out of high school, none of this undergrad degree nonsense before law or med etc.

As soon as I figure out how I want Logan to interpret the break up I'll write a part with his musings, either while he drinks, parties or is consorting with one of the many. But I'm pretty sure I'll leave him as a good guy, confused, does the wrong thing sometimes, but does it because he thinks is best. I actually like Rogan stories, but that's only because on the show, there's no way they're bringing Tris back.

Thank you for your kind support of this story. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.


	4. Just Trust Me

Disclaimer: They are not mine. I own nothing but my ideas.

Just Trust Me 

Soon enough Rory relaxed into Tristan's arms and gave up fighting. Just when the boys had relaxed, she'd start up again, taking advantage of their momentary relaxed state to attempt escape. After a while though, she simply stopped trying. Not because she didn't want to get away, but because all things considered, she was tired, Tristan was warm and although not squishy and comfy like a sofa, was rather comfortable. She gave in to slumber and the freedom of dreams.

Finn and Tristan exchanged looks, three hours later they were still in the same positions. Limbs were losing feeling, stomachs were growling, yet every time they moved an inch or tried to shift Rory, she would start to frown and grasp thin air only to stop when Tristan stroked her forehead, hair or hand. The music had been turned off long ago in fear of waking the sleeping princess. It seemed that the boys were in it for the long haul.

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A/N: I know I'm weird for sticking it in the middle of a chapter but last chapter went on forever and ever and I couldn't figure out a place to end it neatly. So I simply got frustrated and ended it. This should have been the true end, and oy with the angsty poodles already. I've alluded to Rory being unstable, drinking problems, nightmares… we need some fluff to counter. Don't you agree?

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Logan found himself actually sitting in the library. His books were spread in front of him, the year spent in Rory's presence left its reminders every day. From having a minimum of 10 types of junk food per movie watched, to studying in the library complete with back-up thermos and junk food strategically hidden from librarian prying eyes by textbooks to be consumed as necessary. There wasn't a day that went by that Logan didn't think about her, even in passing. A song on the radio and all those cliché things triggered "Rories" as he called it. Anything that happened often enough in one's life deserved a name. He wished that they could still have been friends, initially there were phone calls every week or so, then emails every month or so, favours asked, or an unconscious display of caring. She remembered he always got worked up before a polisci midterm, so she brought him a care package of essentials to last him while he forgot anything else existed besides the midterm. He remembered her dislike of finals and offered to drive her home after exams.

Little things, but the slip-ups had been hard to ignore. She kissed him out of habit after she saw him once, barely avoiding the disaster of kissing his lips, but in veering to his cheek to cover her mistake, caught the corner, one of his sensitive spots. In his haste to update her on his life, he mentioned the same events multiple times, forgetting they'd been mentioned before which annoyed her. The problem was, there were issues that were avoided, and the need to fill the "what's new" conversation void, the same trivial thing would be repeated. All these things made it difficult to move on. Then there were the misunderstandings, so easily understood and accepted when part of a couple. His constant need to tease her, her being forgotten in front of their friends, her idiosyncrasies. Friendly banter was now interpreted as barely veiled barbs. It was just too much.

But the worst thing for Logan, was her eyes. Every time she saw him, he relived that night. Her eyes full of love and trust, then as she remembered the pain, he saw her break. No matter how many beds he filled, how many eyes he saw. Those haunted him.

Frustrated, he slammed the book closed earning treacherous shushes from neighbouring Yalies.

_Hypersensitive jerks _he thought. _They've got to be at least 4 kropogs away and still they shush. _Sick of being mad at himself he refocused on Finn. _Stupid Finn, why did he have to go and mentioned Cassandra. That girl's probably got it all over campus that I can't rise to the occasion anymore. My hearts just not in finishing. I suppose I'll be out of my misery soon anyways. I've got to take 'Stasi to Tiffany and Co next week. I did what was best for Ace, I ended it the best I could. Not the whole truth, but no lies either. I did feel guilty, and she can no longer be in my heart. She would have never ended it herself, she was too secure, she would have stayed no matter what, what irony, her track record is to stay, even as the other woman. I couldn't let her do that. Poor Ace, too many men running out of her life yet too insecure to let go of any man. That girl needs more confidence. I thought I gave her that at least…maybe I was wrong. _Logan pulled out his sterling silver gentleman's flask and took a healthy swig. Logan left the library swiftly. His mother had told him to call Anastasia and invite her on a romantic mini-break in New York which would end at Tiffany and Co. _Here goes nothing, all in the name of inheritance and propriety. _

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Rory's nightmare began to worry the boys, she was talking out loud, squirming and alternating between holding onto Tristan like a life line or beating him and kicking Finn till they truly were sore.

"Crikey, the Sheila can kick! I can't stand much more of this man," began Finn, "my family jewels are at stake here."

Tristan knew the dangers of being woken from a nightmare included never ending repeats, but when Rory's breaths became shallow and she looked like she was having trouble taking in breaths, he had to wake her.

Slowly with extreme caution, Tristan lifted her up till she was sitting in his lap, then he wrapped her in a tight hug to restrain her arms and started rocking her back and forth. _Shit, I hope this works. She's really a piece of work. This might take extreme action for her to get anywhere. I'll have to get Lorelai, Paris, Lane and Finn to help. Maybe even Richard and Emily. _

"Mary, Mary, its time to wake up, you're safe, I'm never going to let go ok? Never going to let go. Mary…Mary, its time to wake up. It's all right, you're safe. No one is going anywhere. Mary…" his mantra slowly brought Rory back.

Unconsciously he started placing baby kisses on her cheek, her hand, her arm, innocent rubs of his lips against her skin. The tactile and verbal combination safely roused Rory from her troubled dreams, but put her back in confused waters.

At least Tristan was saved from explaining his little kiss slip-ups by a cell phone softly playing a Beethoven sonata.

"Hello, Tristan here. Yes…no…I'm in America now. Ok…" Tristan's conversation was of no interest to Rory so it gave herself a moment to think.

_Wow, Beethoven…at the best I would have hoped for a White Stripes, The Vines or even The Killers ringtones, at the worst…I'm too sexy for my shirt?_ Rory's mind had become so honed at avoiding the real issue over the years, that Tristan's kisses fell to the back recesses of her mind, nagging at her, but never truly forcing her to deal with them. At least that worked in Tristan's favour.

"Are you sure that is completely necessary," continued Tristan's conversation, "maybe I could just sign… what about video conference… or do that another…" as he talked he started glancing at both Rory and Finn, that combined with running his hands through his hair started to stoke Rory's interest.

"Fine, no, I don't need the private jet, that's insane. It would require too many stops to refuel. I'll take commercial. If I remember correctly, SIA has a non-stop flight from JFK. Book the weekend flight…actually, hold off on that…I'll call you back in a few minutes." Tristan ended the call, cocked his head to the side and glanced at both Rory and Finn once again. _Perhaps I can get her to agree if I get Finn to come too. She seems alright in his presence. The best self medication is removing the stimulus from the situation. I'm pretty sure she's never been there before. _Tristan's thoughts brought an evil smirk to his contenance._ Aruba, Jamaica, Asia, they're all fungible as long as she's never been there before. If she's going to run, she might as well do it supervised…and have fun while she's at it._

"Mate, as amusing as it is to play charades, you're not playing fair. How many words, and are any of them naked or girl…" Tristan's concentration was broken by Finn's outburst followed by Rory throwing a couch cushion at his Aussie head.

"No. I was just thinking. Rory…have you ever been to Asia?" inquired Tristan.

"No…but I don't know much about the culture or the history of the region, save incidences when America got involved, those were briefly covered in history class. I've seen pictures in travel magazines and such, it looks gorgeous. Why?"

"Well, the Montpensier lawyer just informed me that there are some holdings in Singapore that I need to tour and sign papers for. Its all a formality really, the lawyers have already done everything, and my cousin had told me that the company was being sold so all I need to do is be there, give a speech to the company and sign on the dotted line. Anyways Singapore is as metropolitan as it gets, mind you it's not big, but it's different. It's entirely made up of immigrants from neighbouring countries so its like a melting pot of culture. It's a first world country with the best food in the world. Also, shopping isn't bad. All the couture brands, anything you cant live without, you can find there. I guess this with this spiel I'm trying to convince you and Finn to accompany me. From there most places in Australia are only a few hours away, 4 hours to Perth, 7 to Melbourne…we can hop to Australia too."

"Smashing, I knew being nice to you may pay off…count me in" began Finn "…now where did I put my itty bitty teeny weenie yellow polka dot bikini, there's strict enough there, one place I'll try not to break laws, bend them…perhaps, depending. Definitely depending." completely serious, Finn left Rory and Tristan shuddering in the living room.

Rory nervously began wringing her hands, "I can't really afford, that's to say, I can't really miss the school…"

Tristan quickly took Rory's hands, that seemed to be the easiest way to get her to focus.

"Mary, its my treat. Everything would be taken care of for you."

"I couldn't Tris, its not right. I don't like people buying me expensive things, this would be extravagant! I couldn't afford it no matter what. So that's completely out of the question." Rory was back, stubborn and proud.

"Listen Mary, if we went out for ice cream and I forgot my wallet…would you pay for my ice cream?" reasoned Tristan.

"Yes, that's such a silly little thing though."

"Would you expect me to pay you back?"

"Of course not, what's ice cream between friends. Don't be ridiculous."

"Well Mary, that's exactly what I'm saying. You would treat your friends, and if they wanted to treat back, well that would be pleasant but not necessary. Why doesn't that same logic apply to me?" Tristan could see he was going to win this argument, he would rather get her to go willingly than the alternative of getting Emily to aid in kidnapping Rory.

"Yes, but you're talking ice cream and all expense paid vacations, that's like comparing ants with elephants!"

"No I'm not." Tristan's patience hadn't been tried this much since his one and only reprimand at military school. To wash all 8 dorm bathrooms and toilets with a toothbrush. 48 toothbrushes to be exact had to be used. "Just for example lets say you have about fifty to a hundred dollars a week to spend, ice cream for two, lets say is ten percent of your budget. Now, my budget is a little bit different. Needless to say, I was told if I were to need money to go out with friends, or a special lady friend…"with that he looked intently into Rory's eyes, his hand slowly reaching to hold her cheek and chin so she couldn't break eye contact. "I would have the budget. Now, for the last 4 years, I've done precious little else but study. In the process, completely messing up the budget projections on my inheritance, so my completely disposable ten percent of my budget, I can assure you, will cover all OUR expenses, and a few little side treats for my Mary."

Tristan could see his dearest's resolve breaking, almost, almost, there, her blush covered all he could see.

"But my mom…"

"Your mom wants you to be happy. Honestly, wouldn't it be nice to get away from everything here? Absolutely everything? Besides, I have 5 years of birthday and Christmas presents to buy you. I've been imagining what to get you since your 16th."

Rory's brain wracked up about 35 more excuses she could try to use, but somehow her voice just wouldn't work. It was as if fate stepped in and said, throw in the towel. She had a suspicious feeling that if she didn't willingly agree to this, she might find herself in her bed, waking up on a plane bound to goodness knows where. She wouldn't put it past the brains the LDB produced.

"Good." Announced Tristan, amazingly he didn't have a single trace of smugness, or triumph in his voice. He whispered, "why don't you go back to the dorm and pack. I know Finn's probably got a little used office in here. Let me just grab your mom and grandfather's phone numbers from your phone. I'll take care of everything. Just be ready to leave for New York's JFK airport by the morning, our flight will likely be tomorrow evening. Be ready for a long flight. Its over 20 hours non-stop."

At that Rory visibly balked.

"Don't worry, I've flown with this airline before. You won't even notice. Just trust me."

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A/N: The fluff is comming. I just want it to be as realistic as my idealistic imaginiation and the character's personalities will allow. I've been having trouble concentrating on my studies. Is it normal for reviews to be less than 1 percent of the hits? Thank youto those who review. Esteem boosters are conducive to faster posts and the will to write. Have a good weekend dear readers.


	5. Come Fly With Me: Part 1

Disclaimer: They are not mine. I own nothing but my ideas.

Come Fly With Me: Part 1 

Finn had completely forgotten about his party. That is until Logan called him, his answering machine took it.

"Finn, its me. Listen, people can't find you and for some reason your party came to find you at my place. We're all going out to that Chinese restaurant, meet us when you get this."

Finn was startled out of his search for appropriate clothes. He wondered how his best mate would take this new development. It wasn't his place to interfere, or to be the Rorysitter as far as informing Logan was concerned. He started to consider his options, he no longer felt like partying since Logan would obviously be there. He wasn't in any way picking sides at the moment but if he saw Logan, he would be much too tempted to tell him about the newest developments. Finn didn't know much, but he did know that this was the best chance for Rory to get over Logan, truly get over Logan, that fate had given her. And he, would be by her side, witness to it all if he had anything to do with it.

Glancing towards his den, the one that the maid only ever entered to clean, he thought, _mate, you'd better have something grand up your sleeve. I can help, but only so much. You've got to figure out how to reconcile the girl R.G. has become with the girl you once knew. She's not the same mate. And you're competing with her ghosts, fears and most of all her good memories. _

"Oy, mate, you done in there? You've spent longer in there than I ever have." Finn greeted Tristan as he popped his head over the edge of the mahogany wood doors. Tristan just responded by running both his hands through his hair, saying goodbye and agreeing to the threats of the elderly gentleman on the phone. Once the phone was set down, a glimmer of worry shadowed his features.

"Just wondering what I've gotten myself into," with a sigh Tristan looked up at Finn, and then grinned. "Let the games begin."

Finn responded by handing Tristan a glass of brandy taken from goodness knows where.

"You know if you hurt her…I'll drop you out of a helicopter with no supplies in the middle of the Australian out back right mate?" At that admonishment Tristan just smirked.

"It might be a little messy in the helicopter though. Once Lorelai, Richard and probably numerous other people are done with me here, there may only be pieces left." Tristan replied, silently toasting Finn. "Actually, there would only be pieces left. I cracked her once, and I could barely stand the pain, if I ever actually broke her, I think I may save everyone else the trouble and just have a good old fashioned execution in the Elizabethan style. Just draw and quarter me, hang me till I'm almost dead, rip my belly and pull out my beating heart. It would probably be less painful that knowing I hurt Rory."

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Meanwhile, as Rory walked back to Bramford, she smiled. A genuine "I'm truly happy" smile. She decided that even with all the lists in the world, there was no harm in going to Singapore with Tristan, and Finn of course. With the LDB she had already learned that she could trust its members to take care of everything, even the possible eventuality of ending up in jail. The secret society because of its party happy atmosphere had every member wear an inconspicuous ring at all times. That ring, if taken off your finger would send an alarm to the head LDB person (whoever that was) and start emitting a silent tracker signal. Rory's on the other hand, activated if she released the clasp on her necklace. It was actually a rather smart investment on behalf of the LDB. With members like Finn, you never knew if someone was hurt, or if they were simply passed out at some presidential suite somewhere in the world. The only thing left to do before she packed was to tell her mom and Paris. That and google both the airline and the country.

After Rory set her computer to print out the first 200 sites she found on Singapore and neighbouring countries, and found out what kind of amenities were provided by the airline she decided she could pack rather light. A few airy blouses, some skirts, dresses, sandals and one black cocktail dress just in case in addition to the regular list of unmentionables and beauty products. She decided to call her mom while the printer slaved away.

"Lorelai's house of syrup, I've got the man, you provide the syrup." Lorelai greeted.

"Hey mom, let me just say that was an overshare," began Rory.

"Well I had to make up for the fruit of my looms undershare."

"What…"

"Seems like a little Spawn of Satan has decided to kidnap my daughter, pull her away from her studies and whisk her away to a far away exotic local."

"Mom, it's not kidnapping if I go willingly."

"I know, but I can't very well tell the FBI and Oprah that when I send out the nation wide plea for information leading to the return of my daughter. But it's ok. I think the change of scenery and E.T. may be good for you, at least the little charmer somehow got me and your Grandfather agree to send you. He even said he'd drive up and get your passport from me for you. Wait, that's the door."

"Mom…be n.."

"Of course I'll be nasty. He can go and get 10 cups of coffee for me from Luke before he gets to steal you."

"I'm that cheap? I'm only worth 10 cups?" Rory was incredulous.

"Flesh of my blood, I've got to go. You neglected to mention he is a biscotti hottie. He deserves my full attention…"

"Mom…" warned Rory. "Need I remind you although what you're thinking, you've got Luke, and he won't take it kindly if you left him for your daughter's friend."

"Perish the thought of actually being cut off from the coffee supply. Besides, I concede. If all goes well, he's all yours my dear. With my blessing. Now I don't want to hear another word. Call me when you reach there and have fun for mommy too. Bye!" Lorelai ended their conversation leaving Rory staring blankly at her phone.

"So you're off with Tristan on a wild adventure." Rory's thoughts were interrupted once again only this time by Paris.

"Yeah, sort of." Rory answered.

"So you finally admitted it. You're smart but you sure are dense. So when did you tell him?"

"Tell him what?"

"You still haven't told him have you!"? Paris' shock was an understatement. "Well at least Doyle and I don't have to stay at his place for a while. Call me before you get back so you don't walk in on anything. Don't forget now."

"Don't worry, that's one thing I will never forget to do. And don't let him eat all my food, and I don't want to find any more of his dirty clothes in the couch cushions, or in the microwave!." Rory shuddered. _I don't even want to know what his sock was doing in there._

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(The next evening)

"Last call, Singapore Airlines flight SQ011 non-stop to Singapore. All passengers please proceed to gate I58 for immediate boarding." The disembodied voice of the gate attendant interrupted conversations throughout the international terminal.

"R.G. luv, hurry up. It's just coffee, they've got it on the plane too, and Singapore. It's not like you're never going to see it again." Finn pleaded with Rory as she stood in the Starbucks line-up.

"I'm just nervous, coffee will help. Please? They won't leave without us will they?" Rory pulled all the stops out on Finn. That is until the P.A. ding donged signalling another passenger announcement.

"Would Singapore Airlines passengers Lorelai Leigh Gilmore andFinnegan DeBeers please proceed to Gate I58…"

The announcer was rudely interrupted when an irritated young man grabbed the phone at the gate.

"MARY, get your butt to this gate or so help me, you get no ice cream, coffee or sugar for the entire flight. If I don't see you…" Tristan was pissed. Angry wasn't the word for it, here he was waiting at the gate with her hot pink Tumi carry-ons and she was going to make everyone miss the flight for what? Coffee, only the 15th cup since they started the pre-boarding procedures.

"We're heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Rory screamed as she whizzed by. She always meant it that Gilmore Girls do not run, except in extreme emergencies. As soon as she heard Tristan's words, and his serious tone, she had climbed on the nearest luggage trolley and instructed Finn to push and run as hard as he could. They consequently overshot the gate.

"FINN…you missed!" Rory exclaimed breathlessly.

"Don't worry love, my aim will be better next time."

Before Rory could contemplate what he meant by that, Finn had turned the cart around, and was on a collision course with a certain blondie sans the anger and plus an amused smirk. Finn winked at Tristan moments before braking and consequently sending Rory flying into Tristan's arms.

"You know Mary, if you wanted to be here, all you had to do was ask. None of this risking your life and delaying a flight just to get me to hold you." All Tristan got was a slap on his shoulder, which consequently caused him to drop Rory's make-up bag.

At that Rory squealed. "My stash is in there, how dare you drop my coffee."

Throughout this entire interlude, the gate attendant's facial expressions could have fuelled an entire psych lecture. However, annoyance was prevalent at the moment on her features. Tristan simply put Rory over his shoulder kicking and screaming, handed over their passports and boarding passes for inspection, and walked down the tunnel. The last thing the gate attendant heard was Tristan's warning.

"Mary darling, I still have one hand free, either you stop squirming, or your butt is in the perfect position for a little…"

Poor attendant didn't know whether to pity or envy the First Class stewardesses and stewards, they had gorgeous passengers, and the Aussie looked like he would be a handful, but anyone with eyes could see the brunette was taken with the blonde and vice versa.

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A/N: Short I know, but I will update soon. Thank you to all those who have reviewed. Reviews are better than any mood altering drug I would ever consider trying. If you have any suggestions on what you don't like or what you'd like to see, submit a review. I was toying with the idea of a high charged testosterone filled Tristan/Logan encounter, since I was approached with the idea in a review. I'll be sure to include it at an appropriate moment. Also, how's the pace of the piece? Every time I try to advance, Rory, Finn and Logan tend to go off on their little tangents. Should I be more detailed, or sacrifice detail for action and plot development?


	6. Come Fly With Me: Part 2

Disclaimer: They are not mine. I own nothing but my ideas.

**Come Fly With Me: Part 2**

"Tristan…" Rory's patience with his Neanderthal display was growing dangerously short.

"As you wish, Mary"

Luckily for Tristan, he decided to let her down gently on her feet once they were out of view of the gate attendant. However just for good measure, she stomped on his foot. Just to let him know there were no hard feelings.

"Just for that, you and Finn sit together, I'll take the window seat across the isle." Rory thought she'd won. 20 hours away from the boys, with a nice seat, good entertainment…however as she entered the flight, and moved towards her seat, her heart fell. All the positive thoughts went flying out the window. She wasn't a size-ist, she liked all types of people…however, she preferred them not to invade her space. Ever since the spitter on that horrible bus back from New York on her mother's graduation day…she simply preferred to keep her distance. However, this would be more difficult. The man sitting in the aisle seat beside her window seat could have rivalled the marshmallow man from Ghostbusters. Even with the more than generous width of the First class seat, and the privacy divider between the seats, the businessman spilled into her space. She stood blocking traffic in the aisle causing Tristan to bump her.

"Mary, you can't just choose to stand in the aisle. People are waiting for us to get settled so they can lift…" Tristan started.

Finn abruptly cut in, "I wonder if they've had to recalculate fuel consumption or limit that man's baggage to ensure we can lift off, and stay off."

"Mary, you want to rethink that seating arrangement? I'm sure one of us could stand your company for the entire flight."

Rory's smile emerged even as her eyes betrayed her reluctance. "No, I'm the smallest of them all, I said I'd sit alone, and alone I shall sit."

Both boys with cheeky grins replied, "As you wish." Bowed and slid around her to reach their seats. After Rory stowed her carry-ons and had to suck in her stomach to even make it past the Mm man, she sighed. It just kept getting worse, he had a unique odour.

"Hello, I guess we're seat mates. I'm Frankie J. Mallow. Masters of Health Administration and on my way to organize hospitals in Asia to be more efficient etc." Mm man began.

_So that's what that smell is_ Rory thought _it's like a combo of hospital smell with BO with old person smell._

"Too bad the heat and humidity doesn't agree with me, and my mother would be too lonely…" Mm man continued.

_This is going to be one long flight._ Rory thought as she nodded absently and made affirmative and hopefully distracted noises at what she thought were appropriate points.

After lift off, the stewardesses handed out the Givenchy sleep suits and Bvlgari toiletry kits complementary in first class, (This is true got it off airline website) and Rory requested a New York Times paper. Rory's plan was to keep the noise cancelling headphones on her head, her mouth busy with a coffee, and her neighbour blocked with the NYT.

(one hour into the flight)

Finn's slumber was interrupted by the stewardess, and not the way it had played out in his dreams either. The woman gently called, "Sir, Sir, There is an emergency call that was patched through and connected to the phone at your seat. Please take the call."

Finn answered the phone, "'ello…"

"Finn!" Logan's panicked voice came over the line. "I've been trying to reach you for ages. Listen I know you're on a flight with Rory right now. But, mate, you've got to keep her away from the Times paper today. I just got a glimpse of one, and "Stasi and I made the society page. Big time."

Finn looked at the seat across the aisle, and from what he could see from around the Mm man's belly, she had the times, and she was about half way through. Almost at the society page. Finn blanched noticeably, even with his pale creamy complexion, one could easily see the haunted look of a terrified man.

Tristan looked up from his laptop and his emails to see Finn gesturing madly.

"Rory…paper…Logan…wedding announcement…" Finn tried to get out of his window seat but became tangled up in the headphone cords and tripped over Tristan's lap, the seat phone disconnecting.. Tristan could only look on in horror as the empty coffee cup shattered.

Trying to find the bright side at this horrible intrusion of Logan on his plan Tristan said a little prayer of thanks that there was no where she could run, quickly that is. Mm man was asleep, or was until the shattering coffee cup woke him. Tristan was out of his seat before Finn could recover. Mm man was difficult to deal with but after convincing him with two Franklins, agreed to change seats with Tristan, unfortunately leaving Finn in the same predicament Rory had found herself in as she walked on the plan.

As Mm man got comfortable and acquainted himself with his new seat mate, Finn's thoughts turned slightly murderous. _This flight is not going well, the hols better be better, I'm not having any fun at all, and what is that SMELL! That pretty redhead sitting ahead of me is never going to look back now. What have I ever done to deserve this!_

Tristan adjusted his position in the new seat, trying to fit his shape comfortably in the large crater dent the Mm man left in the seat. After a deep breathe and swearing to himself that he would be the gentleman and the bigger man, he turned to Rory.

Again, he couldn't read her face. _She's still reading, she's not apologizing profusely for dropping the mug, she's not smiling. BUT SCORE! No tears either. _

"Rory," he hesitated.

"You finally learned my name huh?" with a blush she continued. "But Mary is sort of growing on me."

"Mary is growing on me too." He smiled back at her. A genuine smile, none of that moody brooding or smirk, a simple smile.

"You want to see something funny?"

Tristan thought _she's tentative, but she's ok I think. Maybe it's just not set in yet. I'll watch especially carefully for a while._

"Sure Mary."

Rory showed Tristan the photograph on the society page. Logan was there, looking not bad. His competition would have been tough if he had run into Rory when they were still involved. Logan looked every bit like American royalty. His "fiancée" as was confirmed in the picture of them browsing engagement rings in Tiffany and Co however looked like the down side of royalty and the snobiness associated with the snobiness; inbreeding. She had slightly large teeth showcased in her toothy smile. Her features were each lovely in turn, but somehow when put together in a package, just didn't seem to work.

"I know Logan, that's not love, that's a business merger." Rory began, but then faltered.

"I mean, she's not…what I mean is I'm not…" Rory's insecurities began to surface again. So Tristan did what Tristan did best. Distract her.

He made a grab for her chin and looked in her eyes. "Mary, listen to me…" everything from his tone to eye contact to hand gently cupping her cheek while caressing her lips with his thumb spoke volumes to back up his voice. "if it was true love, not only the I love you love but the I love you love AND the I'm in love with you love, then it would have been impossible for him to leave. It's dead easy to love someone, and its dead easy to be in love with some one, but for the two to exist in perfect balance and harmony that's true love. Someone does exist that can give you that, you just have to notice him when he tries."

At that Rory looked at him and crooked her head to the side as if she was seeing him for the first time. _I just need a little more proof _she reasoned.

"I know that there's something about me, men always leave…but could you just stay with me long enough, I just want someone to have fun with, someone that I can trust. I want to trust you. I do trust you. Just stay with me for now, when I'm stronger you can go, I won't hold it against you…I know its a lot to ask and you've done so much…" Rory started babbling.

Tristan just smiled. "If you won't believe me, believe another blond knight disguised as a pirate." He whispered. "Here this now: I will always come for you. I've just been waiting for you to be ready, that and I had to get my act together."

"But how can you be sure?" Rory smiled, _I'll throw the list out, lists suck, and being completely spontaneous sucks. Maybe, just maybe, planning, and consideration then jumping might be better._

"This is true love- you think this happens every day?" With that Tristan smirked confident at the way this interchange was playing out. I've had years to sort out my feelings, I just needed a trip to verify it. Just promise me one thing, don't regret this and don't cry please. I can't stand it when you cry."

With that, he hesitantly brushed his lips against hers. The kiss was so light, so chaste, when Rory opened her eyes, if she hadn't noted his dazed dreamy look, she would have denied it ever happened. But she couldn't, she knew it was reflected in her eyes too.

"So where does this leave us?" Rory was scared to ask.

"Well, as I said, that's completely up to you. But let me say one thing. I will not be a rebound. If you say you want to try something more than friends, do it cause you want to, not because you need a warm body." Tristan's everything was on the line.

"Then I think…" Rory shifted so she was within Tristan's arms leaning on his shoulder. "I think we should stay like this a while. I like this." With that she snuggled closer and once again started drifting off to sleep. Tristan barely heard her last words, "I don't know what this is, but I want to give us a chance…" Rory yawned, "lets just take it slow."

Tristan couldn't disagree with that.

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A/N: Sorry, short once again, but two updates within a few days of each other…I think is a good equivalent for waiting for a long chapter. Anyways MCAT on Sat. So that's it for writing till after the weekend. Enjoy and thank you for all the kind reviews. I apologize if quality is not my 100 best. I've posted this with minimal editing.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: They are not mine. I own nothing but my ideas.

**Chapter 7**

Rory awoke with the smell of something heavenly beside her. She sat up sniffing the air as she rubbed her eyes, still with lids at half mast, she stuck her nose in the source of the heavenly smell. Tristan's Lobster Thermidor.

"Where's mine?" were the first words out of her mouth.

"You don't get this. I ordered this." Tristan replied while kindly nudging her nosy nose out of his meal. "You ordered your duck remember?"

"I wouldn't order a duck! I would remember. How could I eat a duck after making friends with Mr. Quackers last year. I would absolutely never order duck." Rory protested.

"Unless I was half asleep when my order was taken…"

With that Tristan gave Rory a pointed look. "I gather I was…fine. Where's my food?"

Tristan waved at the stewardess and she brought Rory's tray. Once the foil seals were lifted, Rory began to pick at her meal, eyeing Tristan's every bite.

With a sigh, he relented. "Your plate looks good, how about we switch. I'd like to try the duck."

Before he finished his statement, Rory had already stolen his tray and was in the process of demolishing the accompanying saffron rice. He sighed and reached for her tray finishing the poor abused duck that had been picked at and pushed all over the plate.

After the meal service, Hagen-Daz ice cream was served for desert with coffee in tiny individual portions. Tristan wondered not for the first time, what he had gotten into. Rory had commandeered his laptop to watch DVDs that she had brought even though there were a plethora of choices on the on-demand menu for her personal airplane screen.

Finn, leaned by Tristan's seat and commented on the sight. "Mate, she's got your ice cream, my ice cream, hers, and evidently 10 other peoples' who didn't want their ice cream, an entire carafe of coffee AND your laptop. Yet we're sitting here doing absolutely nothing." With a sigh he continued. "Crikey, never thought I'd be whipped by another man's doll."

"She's not mine yet…" Whispered Tristan as he looked longingly at the brunette beside him. At that moment, right in the middle of Charlie Bucket's "I've got a golden ticket" during the musical interlude that did not require her to mouth along with the song, she graced him with a beaming smile, eyes shining, the whole shebang.

"I pity you mate." Began Finn. "My god those are good genes, her smile struck me harder than the paintball pellets, and might I say this hurt in a good way. I can only pity its effect on you."

"Makes me want to give her the world, and at the same time, run away cause I'm not good enough and she needs someone more worthy." Tristan whispered almost reverently. "We might as well catch some sleep, see the sights when we get there. We're staying at my apartment there, so we'll be able to freshen up immediately. None of this afternoon check in nonsesnse."

"Right-o." Finn prepped for sleep. "Too bad I couldn't convince that gorgeous girl that sharing is always more polite."

Tristan tried to follow Finn off to the land of slumber, but his attention was continually pulled to the girl next to him. Even with his eyes closed, his ears were attentive to noises that were coming from her direction. She shifted in her seat, she changed the dvd, she sipped her coffee, she giggled quietly…eventually, he drifted off to meet her once again in her dreams, however now, he was unsure whether his position with dream Rory was more desirable than being beside reality Rory.

Coffee is a diuretic, as all sleep deprived college students realize and regret during long exams. Eventually even Rory's desensitized system required attention that tore her attention from the trials of Wesley. She left him hanging and climbing at an inhuman speed up a cliff, in search of the restroom. Carefully as to not disturb Tristan's slumber, she tried to squeeze by his form. She took note of his countenance, amazed at the amount of emotion, or lack thereof he could express. She remembered his mask from high school, and the laughter, concern and amusement she could see through his chocolate eyes. _Rory Gilmore, I do believe you're falling for the fallen angel._ She thought. With a small secret smile and treasuring the butterflies that were captive in her belly at the thought of him and the future, she left to take care of business.

With well-honed instincts, Tristan awoke the minute his Mary left his side. His first reaction was panic, that she'd left to break down, he immediately bounded out of his bed/seat and left to scour first class for Rory. As he walked up the isle in nothing but the sleeper set, socks and the sleeping eyeshades on his forehead, he encountered his princess exiting the washroom.

_Aw, she blushes, I don't think there's a more beautiful sight in the world. Well…maybe but I've yet to see it, and it still involves her. _Tristan's thoughts typically veered to more than PG-13, but were barely restrained as usual.

"Hi," Rory offered.

"Hi yourself Mary." Tristan's voice husky and gravely from slumber sent tingles up Rory's spine and sent her butterflies into a frenzy.

Rory finally looked up from her feet at Tristan's face and started to smile. _What on earth is so funny about my face._ Tristan wouldn't usually worry about his looks. _I look good, I usually know what I look like, not that I'm a narcissist or anything._ His defences went up, ready for an attack, playful or otherwise.

"Your hair, is all mussed, free from the gel, or wax, or whatever you use and your nightshade is on your forehead." Rory explained. "I guess its not that amusing, but, you just look good. Cute even." Rory hesitantly raised her hand to run her fingers through the aforementioned hair. Analyzing it with marked interest, separating the ash strands from the golden from the straw, running the locks through her fingers, testing the texture. Tristan's eyes closed at the touch. _Who knew just running fingers through hair would be so sensual. She's doing no more than I do and yet she's setting me on fire. _Tristan groaned.

"Mary…" he warned. _She's doing a number on my control, and yet, she's doing nothing at all! _Then, his poor delayed processors registered her words. _Cute even! _"Cute? Only cute?" He smirked. "Are you sure you don't mean hot? Well ravished? Worn out? Loved?"

Her only reply was to club him on the back of the head and smile. "No, I said and meant cute, besides, if any of the others applied, I would have first hand knowledge would I not?" Her teasing had taken a slightly more serious tone. "Right?"

Tristan could only groan once again. _Still so oblivious!_ "Mary, only in my most far-fetched dreams." Rory's face began to fail, her smile faltering, she started to withdraw, confidence stung by his confession. "And hopefully, depending on you, in my future too." With that he smiled and slowly leaned forward to press his lips to her forehead, forcefully enough, he hoped to leave an impression both internally and externally.

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A/N: Dreadfully short, I know. But 62 reviews...you doknow how to set a girl on cloud 9.I plead a busy week and writers block. I wanted to post something for my dear readers and reviewers. Thank you for your support! To Pearl24, firstly, Logan broke things with Rory cause he knew what his family would do, ie. arrange a business mariage and he didn't have the backbone to keep defying them, though Rory has no idea of that. I had the entire break up scene, Logan was vague with Rory, essentially giving her guilt over fidelity, and re-evaluation of feelings for the breakup. I am Canadian but I did vacationdown under one year which is where I get part of the Aussie culture I stick in,and I have a weird thing for animal shows like Nature of Things, National Geographic and Croc. Hunter, the last one is also partially a source for Finn's colloquialisms. I hope that clarifies a bit. I promise to update again soon.


	8. Your Wit's too hot, it speeds too fast

Disclaimer: They are not mine. I own nothing but my ideas.

"A conclusion is simply the place where someone got tired of thinking." – Anon.

Your wit's too hot, it speeds too fast, 'twill tire.  
**Love's Labour's Lost, 2. 1**

The rest of the flight passed by relatively uneventfully, if you excluded the ice cream and pillow fight fought and consequently lost by Finn against a bratty little boy sitting diagonally across the isle, Tristan sleeping blissfully while Rory drew him a moustache and goatee with her eyeliner, as well as complete her Yale Daily article and emailed her study groups for the class notes and homework assignments as well as arrange to have her homework handed in electronically over the course web pages.

Morning came, well I should say morning came in Singapore, and it found our beloved friends hurrying though customs then lured and bogged down by duty free liquor (Finn got Rory and Tristan to carry their max limits into Singapore) and presently found themselves waiting at the baggage carousels.

"Leave me alone." Rory was currently curled up on top of Finn's suitcase on the trolley and was in no mood to move.

"It's your fault for not sleeping RG." Finn complained. Now you're going to be such a kill joy when I wanted to go out and paint the town red."

At that Rory's eyes shot open. "Finnegan Aurelius DeBeers, you will not paint this poor town red. Can you imagine how long the clean up will take? Not to mention the price, and the face that you'll be black listed from yet another country. Need I remind you of the Maldives trip?"

"Relax Mary, I'm sure he's talking figuratively." Tristan sent Finn a knowing look and Finn readily agreed to whatever Rory said. Tristan had discovered Rory's use of his face as a palette when he brushed his teeth before landing and spent a good part of the descent uncovering whether there was photographic evidence of Rory's art work, but as of yet, had not thought of a fitting revenge.

"Oh," Rory's sweet side came back just as fast and unexpectedly as her outburst overcame her, "in that case sorry Finn, brain has not yet begun processing today. Our offices are currently closed until coffee is delivered."

Tristan gently nudged and goaded Rory's uncooperative form into an upright position. "Right, so luggage…check. Sleeping Beauty…check. Handsome prince…check. Court Jester…check."

"Hey mate, watch who you call a jester, you're not so funny you know." Finn snorted.

Tristan just smiled like one does when tolerating a petulant child. "So we're off. Everyone keep an eye out for Walter, he said he'd pick us up from the airport. Wait…let me rephrase that…Finn, keep an eye out for an elderly English gentleman. Rory, I know how much you enjoy your beauty sleep, but you want to help me out here? Left foot now right…fine, lean on me…" Tristan enjoyed that part. "Now left… that's right…no not right…"

As the trio walked out the doors to the arrivals hall they encountered a group of screaming girls and paparazzi with cameras. Tristan and Finn totally ignored the group and walked faster, Rory however was jolted awake by the bright flashing lights and the noise around her.

_What's going on? _As she looked around, her sleep filled eyes only noted the girls, the press and the pictures some girls held tightly to their breasts, the subject having blonde hair. She then looked up with curiosity at Tristan's hair.

_Why on earth would they be all crazy like that? Tristan's not even looking at them, and I can't catch his attention. _Tristan physically sheltered Rory from the press and the girls. He held her to him on the side furthest from the craziness and walked ahead at a clipped determined pace. _I guess he's embarrassed to be seen with me, though I don't know why…maybe Logan's sloppy seconds are giving him second thoughts…_. Rory had made so much progress over such a small time frame but given the opportunity her thoughts once more turned insecure and dark.

By the exit an elderly gentleman in his mid sixties waited. He immediately straightened his back and turned to greet the trio. "Master Tristan, I hope you had a pleasant flight with your companions." With that he turned to greet Finn and Rory. "Young Master, Miss, I hope you enjoy your stay in Singapore. I am Walter, a gentleman's gentleman, young Master Tristan's valet. Now if you will follow me, the car is waiting out front."

Poor Rory with her new plague of thoughts, allowed herself to be ushered into the car too wrapped up in her insecurities to notice a slightly famous actor Jensen Ackles exit though the same gate as she did moments ago, who stopped, signed photos and basked in the attention of his welcoming crowd.

Driving towards the apartment took only about a half hour in which they discovered how Tristan inherited Walter from his cousin. It seemed that all the Comte de Montpensier had a valet from Walter's family and Tristan had sent him and his wife to Singapore for a holiday when Tristan went to America. Along the way they passed some of the sights of the city. Orchard Road, the main shopping district, the private gated Istana, guarded residence of the prime minister, the former tallest building in south-east Asia and the Raffles Hotel. Tristan's apartment overlooked the Singapore Botanical Gardens, the orchid gardens he confided to Rory was his favourite place to sit and think when he visited.

Rory listened and looked half-heartedly at the view. _I should have known. How can you be so stupid Rory, you're an ivy league student and you couldn't even tell his motives. Once a player always a player, now he just has a bigger budget and a better game, that's all. _Still Tristan's voice lingered in her mind making her confused, _but never lies…those hurt more than anything else could…_

Rory was jolted out of her thoughts when the blast of humidity from the open car door hit her. A gloved hand waited expectantly to help her out of the car, but Tristan beat Walter to it. With a roguish grin, he grabbed her hand and pulled Rory out of the car and into his waiting arms. Walter raised his eyebrow at this unusual show of affection from his master. _He's only ever this carefree with Alison…I wonder…_

Tristan and Rory shared one of those timeless moments, in the sweltering humidity and after a twenty-hour trip, they shared one thought, one in awe and overwhelmed by love, the other in sadness and regret, _(s)he has never looked more beautiful._

The moment was broken by Rory's stomach, once again heralding a nervous silence as the travelling party plus Walter ascended the building in the elevator. When the doors opened on the 24th floor, a warm welcome greeted the tumultuous couple.

"My dear, you look positively thin." Remarked the plump woman barrelling towards Tristan at an amazing pace. How she managed to move so fast in her sensible pumps would remain a scientific mystery. "Come, all of you must be so weary from the travelling." As Tristan hugged her, he protested her assessment. "Nonsense," she continued, "off you all go, freshen up and when you're through, there's a spot of tea, bangers and biscuits fresh off the stove for you all." With that she heralded each person into their respective rooms and showed the guests to the baths. As she put her arm lovingly around Rory to lead her to her room, Rory cast a backwards glance at Tristan, obvious horror apparent on her face.

Rory mouthed, "Tea?" back at Tristan. Tristan took the opportunity to address the take-charge housekeeper, Walter's wife.

"Martha, I'm afraid I've been rather rude and forgotten introductions. Rory, Finn, this is Martha, my housekeeper, Walter's better half and the lady responsible for ensuring I eat a home cooked meal frequently. Martha, this is Rory Gilmore, my Mary and Finn DeBeers her friend."

At this Martha gave Rory a once over, reappraising her so to speak.

"And another thing." Tristan continued. "Miss Rory will take coffee with her breakfast, she's rather addicted to the beverage no offence meant to your tea Martha. You better prepare an entire pot for her, she can make it disappear faster than David Blaine."

After freshening up, Rory was lured from the soft bed with the down filled comforter that called her name throughout her "freshen" up time by the wondrous appetite enticing smells wafting from what she could only assume was the kitchen.

Approaching the kitchen, she heard Walter verbally giving Tristan the messages he collected from various answering services worldwide. Rory approaching the kitchen still hidden from the kitchen's occupants was just in time to hear Tristan's social messages.

"Miss Alison called, and asked why you neglected to inform her you were travelling here. She was rather annoyed that you neglected to invite her again and she reiterated how much she enjoyed her previous stay with you." Walter rambled, but then his tone changed to one of barely veiled contempt. "Miss Muffy wanted to know when you would be back in London and if you would accompany her to this years Black and White ball."

At this Tristan paled, not that Rory could see from his position. Tristan smirked and said, "Well, I'd be delighted," and proceeded to tie a pretend hangman's noose around his neck. "After the lovely time I had escorting her, she never wanted to leave the limo and stated she had other activities planned." With that said, Tristan hung himself with the noose.

Rory did a quick 180 turn and returned to her room. _Of course Rory,_ she thought to herself, _Tristan's got a girl on every continent. Miss Muffy of London, Miss Alice of America, and this is probably his love nest. He brought you to romance you into dropping your pants for him. Its no different than his jealousy card in high school. _Rory began to bang her head not lightly on the wall. _Stupid, stupid, stupid. You aren't a marriage girl. You're the fling before the marriage…or after even. _That last admission slipped into Rory's conscious line of thought adding additional poison to stifle her happiness. Grave mistakes may not be thought of all the time, been reconciled and shelved away with the pain and uncomfortable feelings of guilt hidden, just to fall into your lap and open releasing the pain at the most inopportune times.

Finn blasted into her room. "RG darling, if you want to knock, one usually does so on the door, so one can enter the room after. As it stands, I've had to come all the way into your room, just to say 'come in!' to give you permission."

At this non sequester Rory just looked at Finn like he had truly lost his last marble.

"You were knocking on my wall." Finn replied completely nonchalant. "Now that I'm here I might as well tell you. Yale for the first time in history, has been closed indefinitely and for at least 2 weeks while the campus buildings are thouroughly searched for asbestos."

"Asbestos?" Rory exclaimed.

"It seems that the building inspector while checking the science labs found an open ceiling tile, and a rat or other small rodent escapee from the lab knocked some suspicious looking material down on the inspector's coat." Finn continued speaking as if this was not out of the ordinary.

Rory looked incredulous but signalled Finn to continue.

"Anyways luv, he checked some other neighbouring buildings including some dorms and found traces of asbestos. So, he promptly caused a scandal and closed Yale indefinitely until all traces of asbestos can be removed." Finn finished his story and started to buff his nails on his coat.

"Finn, why do I have a feeling this closure is just slightly too convenient?" Rory ventured.

"Well I suppose you would blame me…but how could I," Finn attempted to look angelic. "I was on a plane, and in your company, plus its never been done before. Never been attempted."

"Exactly.

"Exactly what?" Finn continued on his vague explanation, but could not continue, breaking into a slightly devilish grin."

"WE needed a break anyways, and the different school schedules didn't meet up perfectly for the fall event. So, it just worked perfectly. No one suspects a thing, the administration is incensed!" Finn confessed.

"Well, I guess it worked out for the best. I really couldn't imagine having to miss school." Rory offered. _I really should have stayed at school than come to this illicit love nest. _

Poor Rory's mind had been more affected by her absentee male influences more than she realized. To want to do anything for male approval, and to trust completely, just to dash and destroy all chance by her own treacherous imagination.

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A/N: A stepping stone chapter. We can't have all the pieces fall in place on the first try can we. What fun can be found in that? Please review, all the reviews put a smile on my face. I think I can realistically get 100 reviews before the 10th chapter. Please help with this goal. Have a good weekend to all my dear reviewers.


	9. Down The Rabbit Hole

Disclaimer: They are not mine. I own nothing but my ideas.

**Down the Rabbit Hole**

Rory gave up arguing with Finn. "Well, I thank whoever was responsible for closing Yale. I was pretty worried about how I was to catch up with school. I smell some delicious aromas from the kitchen, why don't we move there?"

Finn simply offered her his arm unconsciously; ten years of etiquette classes would do that to a man. Rory slid her arm around his and together the two incredible personalities headed off to the kitchen.

_I will pretend that I didn't hear anything, and I'll enjoy my vacation since Trissie-poo is footing the bill. The man deserves to pay through his nose. Too bad I don't need another abridged version of the Oxford dictionary anytime soon. I'll have my fun, and when the time comes, and he wines and dines me, I'll tell him I know his game and this is one hunt the hunter will lose. I'm tired of waiting for guys to get their acts together, I'm tired of seeing their backs leaving, you can't even appreciate their asses through the emotion. _Rory fumed internally. Once again she snapped. The poor girl, played her role so perfectly, hid feelings expertly, just to have them manifest themselves in large massive ways and throw wrenches in fate's plan. It happened when Rory met Dean as she left Stars Hollow High, when she fell asleep and didn't return home after the dance, when she propositioned Logan, when she slept with Dean, when she missed her mother's graduation to visit Jess… by now you would think she had figured it out that repressing feelings just doesn't work.

As they entered the kitchen, Tristan raised his eyebrow at the sight of Rory supported on Finn's arm. Finn then made a big show of backing off with arms raised, in deference to the one who had first dibs on Rory.

"Come and sit down, we eat in the kitchen if there is no big wig to impress." Tristan motioned for Rory and Finn to take a seat. As always he did a once over of Rory's appearance, refreshed and relaxed with less of the panda eye complex he had first seen at the coffee stand. However in her eyes, he thought he caught a fleeting glimpse of hatred and scheming superiority. Rory truly would make a horrible poker player. If her eyes did not betray her, her entire posture and the way she carried herself would. Tristan could feel waves of hatred pulsing off of her. Amazingly though, Finn was oblivious, which made Tristan doubt for a second, but he couldn't ignore it. _Dang, what happened? Why earth is she so mad? I didn't do anything! _The more Tristan thought about what could be bothering Rory, the more pissed off he got. _Of course it's me, it's always me. Just what the hell did I do?_

Then, to add to Tristan's confusion, Rory did a complete personality change. Sure there was still a smouldering anger undertone, but he could have sworn Rory was channelling Muffy or Candi or other like-minded social piranhas.

"Housekeeper, I don't eat ground up animals, and I don't eat potatoes. There are simply too many carbs. If it isn't too much trouble could I have exactly half an apricot with a quarter cup of skim cottage cheese with a glass of Evian water?" Rory complained about the entire meal accenting her point with doe eye glances at how Tristan was taking the obvious disrespect Rory was showing Martha. Rory felt bad, but she promised herself she would make it up to Martha later. Martha was left running around the apartment and leaving for the store to make Rory's breakfast knowing how important Miss Mary was to Master Tristan.

Everyone was confused, but Rory with some misplaced confidence in her mission simply called after the "housekeeper" to add an American edition of Vogue to he supermarket order. Rory knew that Singapore being a former British colony would only import in large quantities the British edition of Vogue, but if she was to imitate the platinum seekers well enough to fool men who had been fending them off since they could walk, she would have to be ruthless.

Tristan with wisdom that all men gain wisely disregarded Rory's about face. Instead he talked about inviting his sister to stay with them since Finn had updated them with what happened at Yale. It turns out that Tristan's sister was a freshman Yalie doing a science degree and would also be free.

"Yea, I think you and Alison would get along marvellously." Tristan offered to Rory tentative about being verbally castrated for a misplaced word.

"Alison?" Rory blanched.

"Yea, my sister, my brother Alistair is the eldest, then me, and my sister is the baby of the family." Tristan elaborated. "I want to invite her here, she loves Asia and would serve as a good tour guide while I'm busy at the lawyers' offices."

Rory's conscious attempted to derail her from her plans. _Alison is his baby sister, of course she would kick up a fuss if her brother left her behind. Maybe you misinterpreted. _Alas common sense was lost on Rory's vendetta. _No, there's still the wonderful Miss Muffy of London. Tristan lied. He said he hadn't seen anyone since he moved to London and became 'responsible'. _Her last word was thought in a mocking tone. One that's affect reached her face as she made a disgusted expression.

As Rory watched the boys eat their meal her thoughts wandered and conflicted between themselves giving her a headache. The way she wanted to act went against every fibre of her being and personality. When Martha got back with Rory's strange breakfast request, it did not take much for Rory to beg off of breakfast. "I'm not hungry anymore Mar…housekeeper. I'll just go to my room and take a rest." _This is harder than I thought. I almost called her Martha. I need to remember that aspiring socialites don't bother with the help._

Martha's face fell, she was so proud that she had scrounged up an apricot that didn't look half bad when they were out of season. Dejected, she headed back into the kitchen to keep the apricot cold in case Miss Rory changed her mind.

Meanwhile, Tristan and Finn were left to figure out what was wrong with Rory. They both decided that asking her was probably not the best course of action at the moment. After a thorough deliberation they came to the conclusion that the best course of action was to give Rory some girl pampering time. However, the only girl pampering the boys were aware of, were the black card swiping kind. So, Tristan called his sis for some emergency "girl down time" things Rory could do, and the list was extensive.

By mid-morning, Tristan's intervention or aversion day plans as he saw it were complete. He knocked on Rory's door.

There was no answer.

Again he rapped, harder, and harder till he was almost pounding the door down. When the poor paintings at the other end of the hallway started to rattle in their frames, Tristan gave up. No one could blame him, if Rory couldn't hear her door.

He entered, to find an empty room, but as he was turning to leave, he heard someone humming. It came from the bathroom. It sounded a little like Walk Like An Egyptian by the Bangles and it struck Tristan's curiosity. _If Royy is humming that means she's totally uninhibited at the moment._ The little boy in him and the little boy south of the border couldn't help but peak around the corner of the bathroom. With steam rolling out the top of the doorway and the bathroom as muggy as the outside would be without the air conditioning Tristan had to pause for a moment for his eyes to break through the fog. What he saw made him smile and chuckle. Rory, with her hair messily pinned up and held up out of her face with a rolled up hand towel was in the bathtub, completely surrounded by mountains and mountains of bubbles. Tristan knew she must have used at least half a bottle of his sister's jasmine bubble bath. Nothing of Rory was visible below her collar bone until her pink tipped toes shaking to the beat coming out of Rory's mp3 player. Rory's face was also covered with a facecloth but with the stalker sixth sense that everyone has at times, she felt she was being watched.

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A/N: Last scene, think Pretty Woman. Patience dear grasshopper. I am going somewhere with this.

Fallen Heart, yes I like Jensen Ackles, he is so ridiculously hot, he sets the bar so high, no man in real life can live up to it, at least no man I've met.

Furthermore, about Rory's warped and deluded perceptions…honestly, is there a single woman out there who hasn't misinterpreted information, acted on it and been embarrassed? I'd like to meet her, and study her as a potential directed studies experiment.

Nancerz, Tristan is not famous, if he was he might have been egotistical enough to check whether the press was for him. The press was for Jensen Ackles and Rory just woke up, from a twenty odd hour flight, still sleepy probably not looking her best. He just did what a gentleman would do, protect his lady.

Lonnie, sorry about the Italian Job quote mix up, I actually did not know that was the original use of the quote. I got it off memory from another fanficiton. And trust me, I feel for you. I did the international version of AP, had some physics classes at 7am…these are the hours coffee was made for.

KeitaWolf, yes "Alice" is blonde, genetics favour it, and since Rory's sending everyone into a weird place by acting weird, I guess everyone is going down the rabbit hole for a while, so chapter title is all thanks to your comparison.

P, I'm a Vancouverite born and bred, I've never travelled First class, but because of an overbook I got to travel business class once, but the flight was only 40 minutes and yes they were in the aisle.

I also think there is precedence for Rory acting like this, does Rory ever tell the guy she's interested in what's going on in her head?

To everyone else, thank you. 95 reviews ! You all are the best. Now, if I've amused you in the least or at least have you watching out for the next instalment for the further misadventures in love of Rory Gilmore and friends, press the "GO" button and feed the writer.

Love You All!


	10. Breakfast at Tiffany's, Lunch at

Disclaimer: They are not mine. I own nothing but my ideas.

**Breakfast at Tiffany's, Lunch at Armani, Dinner…**

Rory turned her head towards Tristan, her sense was quite eerie considering her eyes were still covered by the face towel.

"Oopma loompas, I appreciate the service but I highly doubt stalking me is a good idea. You exist only in my imagination so go away." Rory's tone was quite babyish as she attempted to rid herself of the jittery feeling of being watched.

"First of all, I've never gotten green hair, even from the chlorine in the pool AND, I assure you, the tan is all natural care of Mr. Sun." Tristan caught Rory's attention as she whipped off the face cloth and with shock lost her balance and fully submerged from view. She came up sputtering and wiping her eyes. Tristan continued, "I do not use the fake and bake orange stuff. Finally, must I mention that my stature is nowhere near that of a dwarf? None of my assets can be considered below average." With that he moved his hands inside his pockets making the pants move up and down.

"Whaaaa……" Before Rory could begin yelling at Tristan about his lack of manners, he continued.

"I knocked on your door, many many times. The door was unlocked and the door to the bathroom wide open. I just came in to tell you that I'm not expected in the office until tomorrow. So today we are going shopping. Birthday shopping. I told you that I have years of birthday and Christmas presents I want to make up for so I am taking you no limit shopping. Then my sister called Aspara and booked a full body treatment for you at 4 then the stylist will be here at 6 to get you ready for the Black and White charity ball thing at the Raffles Hotel tonight. Finn's parents roped him into going since they knew he was headed here, and I'm a platinum donor to the hospital so I have to buy a ticket. Oh, my sis is flying in today, and with luck she should be here in time to go with us tonight. I'm sure you'll get along marvellously. Well, if you're almost done your bath, if you can get ready, I'm ready to go when you are." With that veritable speech through, Tristan exited the bathroom before Rory could get a word in edge wise.

Rory promptly closed her open mouth. Drained the bath, rinsed her hair and proceeded to dry and curl it. She put on a pair of kitten heel slippers and a sundress along with blush and lip-gloss. Half an hour later, she met up with Tristan. As they left the apartment, Rory asked. "Where's Finn?"

"Oh, he found my big screen TV in the games room, and the satellite dish. I left him in there, something about ManU against Liverpool and how he wouldn't miss it for the world. He'll go out and buy a tux later."

"Oh" replied Rory.

With that they got into the car and Walter drove them back down to Orchard Road with instructions to come back and pick Tristan up at 4. Their first stop was Ngee Ann City, a huge shopping mall along the Road taking up two city blocks. It was simply huge. Inside, it held a wealth of the most desirable goods, everything from Aigner to Zara. As soon as Rory walked into the cool refreshing air-conditioned mall, she looked up, stacked layer upon layer for as high as she could see up the atrium were her favourite brands from ogling Vogue magazines, and some she had never heard of. She was in every girl's paradise and for once, she could spend, without a care.

Five hours later, sitting in a Delifrance café, Tristan and Rory surveyed the damage. By Tristan's books, Rory's use of his card had been tame as he knew it probably would be. If he had suggested a no limit shopping spree a regular little leech might have wheedled Harry Winston tiaras, Mikimoto pearls and other six or even seven digit items. A silver necklace and bracelet in the now fashionable thick chunky style with a Please Return to Tiffany and Co. charm hanging off of each was Rory's choice from Tiffany and Co. A quilted purse with metal handle from Chanel with matching wallet had been the next purchase. She had spent ages in Louis Vuitton looking at the shoes but had instead bought a pair of stiletto sandals to go with her ready to wear gown for that evening she had bought from Dior. Three more pairs of sandals bought from the department store Takashimaya and Tristan had suggested she pick up an additional suitcase to house it all. Instead of going back to the department store, Rory decided to push her revenge and see how far Tristan would let her go. She led him back to LV and purchased her suitcase and a matching carryon case in the traditional LV print. Tristan simply wordlessly handed his card back to the staff without a glance at the price. All in all, Rory was getting annoyed at her revenge plan. She had bought stuff she would never in a million years think of buying on a whim, let alone all on one day. Every time Tristan handed over his black card, and simply signed the bill happily Rory's guilt grew. With every additional four and five digit item he placed on credit, Rory's sinking feeling dampened what should have been a dream day.

Over his cappuccino, Tristan broke Rory's mental recap of her morning. "I was thinking, you don't really have all that many items, there's a rather large Zara store that you still haven't been through and there's Nine West and Armani Exchange. I think those stores are more to your every day tastes." With that Tristan went back to his cappuccino leaving Rory amazed. She wondered, exactly how far would he be willing to go, and how much would he be willing to pay to conquer her?

Rory simply sat there slightly downtrodden at how her revenge was going, here he was treating her like a princess without a care in the world, not even teasingly complaining about the hole in his pocket due to Rory's spending, not even complaining once of boredom.

Tristan's phone alarm rang reminding the couple of the time.

"Oh, sorry Rory, I'm afraid we'll have to hit those stores later, I've got to get you to the spa for your treatments. Its not far but we've got to leave now." Tristan moved to get up.

"Okay." Rory said relieved that she didn't have to spend any more money right now.

There exists a dichotomy between the love all women have of being pampered and catered towards by a man they love, and the guilt at spending money when they know their man would never spend that much on themselves.

As they walked down Orchard road to the spa Rory analyzed Tristan. He seemed slightly distracted, and every once in a while would run his hand through his hair. Their conversation covered a multitude of topics, all light and not terribly important. When they reached the penthouse spa at the top of the building, Tristan signed Rory in and absentmindedly kissed her on the cheek.

"Don't worry about the bill, just enjoy yourself. Alison has put your treatment on her tab. Either Walter or myself will be back in a couple of hours to pick you up." With that Tristan left, but before he was out of earshot, Rory could have sworn he added "hope you feel better" to his parting words.

The receptionist attendant directed Rory to a seating area of plush sofas while they finished preparing her outdoor cabana. Rory sipped the fragrant ginger and melon tea offered to her while resting her head on the buttery leather of the sofa listening to the mini waterfall built into the wall bubble and laugh away. She was almost dozing off from the relaxing environment when a little Chinese woman dressed in a white dress and white shoes similar to that of a nurses uniform politely cleared her throat to get Rory's attention.

"Miss Gilmore, if you would please follow me." She spoke. Rory was lead down a hallway with small rattan cupboards along one side.

The floor was rough unfinished marble covered with a smooth dark wooden slat raised pathway.

As the attendant opened one of the cupboards, she indicated, "Please leave your belongings here and put this pair of slippers on. "She took a pair of deceivingly comfortable rattan slippers out of the open cupboard; she then pulled out a plush towel and terry robe. Through these doors are the private showers, please rinse off, there are shower caps in the boxes in the baskets by the showers. Change into the robe and I will be waiting here when you return."

As Rory entered the women's changing room she was amazed, the vanity mirror area was done in creamy marble with countertops, hairdryers and vanity chairs. The shower areas on the other hand were separated by frosted glass doors leading to the individual showers while the floor of the shower had the same wooden slat floor. On a whole, the shower area had a tropical oasis theme. Rory relished the beating water on her back from the shower head. In the coolness of the air conditioned bathroom, the warm water beating on her back felt good. It made Rory forget all her worries and just concentrate her direct sensory input. She almost forgot why she was there until she heard a knock on her glass door.

"Miss Gilmore? Are you ready? The cabana has been prepared and the masseuse is waiting." With that she turned off the spray, dried and donned her robe.

Once again she followed the attendant down another hallway. This hallway led to the outside gardens surrounding the penthouse spa. Along the way, little private cabanas lined the path along with individual steam rooms, each hidden from view of others by well-placed palms and ferns. Rory was stunned by her cabana, it overlooked the entire city skyline, and although life continued at its normal frantic chaotic pace for the people below her on the street, Rory felt nothing but absolute calm and quiet. She was amazed that to even hear the noise of the large city below her, she had to strain her ears, something she was not going to do again. As her masseuse beckoned for her to get on the table, Rory unknotted the robe and climbed up. Modestly, Rory lay down first on her stomach and let the masseuse pull the robe off her after placing the towel covering her bum. As the masseuse along with the humidity, calming nature music and jasmine incense worked their magic, Rory's last thought was 'this is the life' before she succumbed to the lull of the temporary Shangri-la Tristan had thoughtfully booked for her and she let herself simply be.

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A/N: To all my dear reviewers: You guys are great! Firstly, thank you for the complements and the suggestions made. I do consider them, and I re-read and re-read all my reviews a bunch of times to bask in the glory. I do dislike writing Rory this way, but I think within the frame of her character on the show, especially the ending of season 5, it is completely plausible at this confused moment, if she never sorted it all out, it wouldn't take much to push her over the edge and not want to take a chance on a guy. However Rome wasn't built in a day. Thank you for your patience while I develop the plot, this little obstacle to the troryness will soon be overcome and our dear couple will soon be a few steps closer to where they want to be.

Fallen Heart- I'm not offended, the thoughts were bothering me too. This chapter is a weird mess of styles because I don't like the thoughts breaking the flow of the chapter, but I want to have an insight into their minds. Especially when Rory's POV is kind of all over the place. There is a difficult and unique style of Flaubert's that I want to try. He used it in Madame Bovary. It's where the story is written in the third person, yet you have insight into one characters feelings and explanations of their mannerisms and behaviour; like a combo of first and third person. I'm seeing if I can write with just Rory's feelings about the world around her, and leave the rest up to her interpretation. Her insight and feelings will equilibrate soon so her view on others will be more accurate. In this chapter, it's a weird mix though. I've got a line or two of Tristan's impressions.

I will let you in on a secret, I'm great at setting up and developing plots, always have been, but I've got a nasty habit, I kill off characters when I get writers block regarding their future or when the character has outlived their usefulness. So, please review, inspire me to continue instead of just abandoning my poor creation.


	11. Shall We Dance?

Disclaimer: They are not mine. I own nothing but my ideas.

**Shall We Dance?**

"Miss Gilmore?" the attendant tried to rouse Rory from her comatose like relaxed state. Every bone in Rory's body felt like well kneaded dough, her mind was blissfully blank. It's amazing how one doesn't realize how much thinking and having a million thoughts running through your head hurts until it stops. Sort of like how background noise is only noticed when it is absent. "Miss Gilmore…the massage is over…" the attendant continued her gentle pull on Rory's attention when all of a sudden…

"MARY!" Rory jolted awake. Self amazed that that name, though not on her birth certificate managed to rouse her as quickly as someone calling her full name. Yet, the blonde who barged into Rory's cabana wasn't male, although she could also have stepped out of an Abercrombie and Fitch or a Ralph Lauren ad. "There you are, hope you enjoyed that, Mikki is the best masseuse here. I took the liberty of bringing your dress and shoes along with my makeup kit and a hairdresser. I thought it would be easier for us to dress and get ready here rather than go back to the apartment and fight with the boys over mirror space." The bubbly blonde contined.

Rory was extremely puzzled as to who this girl was, her mannerisms and the way she leaned casually against the wall struck her as familiar, but in her fuzzy consciousness, she couldn't quite pinpoint why it was familiar.

The bright eyed blonde continued her rambling, "By the time we're done with you, you won't be able to recognize yourself. Tristan's going to be speechless for once in his life." With this thought the blonde smirked. "Oh, I am terribly rude. Hi," the blonde reached out to shake Rory's hand even though Rory was still lying face down on the table. "I'm Alison. Tristan's sister. I know you are Rory, my big bro's Mary and a Yalie too. Isn't the asbestos thing terrible? How could they let us go there? If I was pre-law instead of pre-med I'd consider suing the University. Are you going to get up?"

Alison simply continued on talking, never seeming to need a breath or a moment to change topics.

Rory blushed and Alison took the hint and blushed in return as she turned to face the door so that Rory could get up and put on her robe.

"Sorry about that," Alison apologized. "I get carried away and start rambling and ….oh I saw the cutest little sandals at the plaza next door…there I go again. Anyways the showers are back the way you came and I'll send someone to get you and bring you to the room where we're getting ready. I'm so glad the people were so accommodating for us."

After the shower Rory felt less oily but still as relaxed. Until she saw the number of people required to get Alison ready for a night out. There was the hairdresser currently pulling and frying Alison's hair in all directions, an assistant that probably put yet another hole in the ozone layer due to his liberal use of aerosolized hairspray, a make up artist and a stylist coordinating a "look" while manicuring Alison's nails. Alison managed to catch Rory staring at her in the mirror and motioned with her eyes to take a seat in the empty chair beside her. On the mirror in front of Rory was a picture of her evening gown, black with a tight corseted top with a floor sweeping satin skirt which defied gravity and somehow held it's fullness while still flowing assisted only by two crinoline skirts underneath. Her shoes were a dark metallic grey with small crystals on the straps. There also was a picture of Rory, when it was taken or how it was obtained was beyond her. Beside the picture of her face was a copy printed on thick artist's paper with makeup applied. It looked to Rory like a test run done by the makeup artist and it was flawless. Out of nowhere a lady came up to her and looked at Rory expectantly.

"Yes?" Rory asked.

Alison replied for the help. "She wants to take your measurements to check one last time that the dress is altered correctly."

And so the primping, painful and wonderful began to transform Rory. While Rory was a beauty before, she was stunning after. Alison looked on with glee. "If Tristan didn't love you before, he will after this. You better be sure you like my brother a lot, cause after tonight, I don't think he will ever let you leave his side."

To this Rory could only nervously chuckle. She was truly once again extremely confused.

Many painful hours later…

The chauffeured Maybach pulled to the spa and a two gentlemen stepped out looking like the pinnacle of refinement. One was dressed like a fallen angel in a pure white tuxedo while the other looked positively sinful in black. Alison exited the building first and ran into her brother's arms, as they hugged she whispered. "Don't dool all over my hard work now."

As Tristan pondered her words, Rory stepped out shyly from the automatic doors. Her hair was pulled back into a high bun with ringlets cascading downwards. She looked at the floor blushing as she walked, a little unsteady without support in the heels the dress required her to wear. The plush carpeting that lead from the doors to the edge of the pickup zone of the building definitely did not help her balance. As she almost stumbled. Finn dressed in the white moved to help her. He had waited for Tristan to make the first move to escort the girl to the car, but Tristan was evidently shell shocked.

Finn reached Rory and put his arm out for her to use as support. With the knowledge that Finn would catch her if she fell, Rory immediately straightened up and walked with her head held high. The final change made Tristan's breath leave him. It seemed every brain cell had diverted their attention away from normal function and were completely focused on Rory well, except the brain cell that direct blood flow down south...you can guess that they were working overtime.

In the car, Finn presented Alison with a small bunch of orchids to place in her hair.

Tristan took the time to do his big brother speech. "I better not find one hair out of place on my sister's head tonight Finn. I want her back in one piece ok?"

Finn feigned complete disgust. "How dare you assume that your sister's virtue is in any danger at all tonight. I give you my word as a gentleman."

At this Tristan snorted with laughter. "A gentleman, hah! I might as well get your word as a ruffian. It would probably be worth more."

Rory put her two cents in confused. "I thought Finn was my escort. I mean, he helped me on the carpet…"

Alison interrupted. "Only because my idiot brother doesn't have enough brain cell to ogle his crush and walk at the same time." This earned her a death stare from Tristan and an accomplice's grin from Finn.

Tristan tried to explain, he had wanted them to go initially all as friends since there was an uneven number. Especially since Rory had been acting strange around him, but he wasn't going to tell her that. But with his sister in the picture, it would be more natural to pair off. "We don't have the audacity of the Gilmore's. Although society may have been tolerant of second cousin incest, I think having a brother and sister escort each other may be worse."

Alison whispered into Rory's ear. "Especially since it might destroy our reputations…can you imagine? A DuGrey unable to find an escort?" At the look of sheer horror on Alison's face, Rory laughed.

_He does look dashing…_Rory thought. Tristan presented Rory with a small white box, nestled inside was a diamond solitare necklace and a dozen mini white roses carefully attached to tiny brown claw clips. Tristan reverently placed the necklace done in platinum around Rory's neck and proceeded to embed the roses securely around the top of the bun so they circled around it.

With Tristan in such close proximity, she could feel the heat radiating off his body and his breath caress her neck hot and uneven in the coolness of the car. When he was finished, he trailed one knuckle down the back of her neck and gave a small kiss on her shoulder.

Rory's breath hitched and she felt herself begin to heat up, the blush on her cheeks growing darker as she turned to thank Tristan. For a moment, between blinks, he could have sworn her eyes grew darker, but it was only a fleeting second, and Tristan couldn't guarantee it was not a trick of light.

As they arrived, Finn and Alison alighted first, gaily laughing and enjoying each others company. Without the light chatter of the light couple, Rory and Tristan could feel the tension, sexual and otherwise. Even though the mood was slightly strained, Tristan was determined not to let his chance to romance Rory go.

The situation was not ideal, something was bothering Rory, her attention was not completely with the moment, and that annoyed Tristan, however he simply got out, took a deep breath and schooled his features burying all worry and annoyance determined to make the most out of what was likely his only chance to show Rory what she meant to him. As he leaned back down and reached out a white gloved hand to Rory, she met his eyes exiting and he mentioned just three little words. "Shall we dance?"

Regardless of her thoughts, Rory graced his with her smile.

_Right, _Tristan thought. _That wasn't too hard. _As they walked into the building he continually glanced at Rory. _My God she's beautiful. _Tristan was struck by the realization that this girl was IT with a capital I and T. Whatever she asked, whatever she desired, he would try his damned to make her smallest whims and her most impossible dreams a reality.

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A/N: Well, classes started again this week. I've got like 4 lab components for 4 out of 6 courses. My schedule is insane. So, likely, only one update a week probably late in the week or on the weekend. I keep thinking that this current Rory confusion issue will be resolved in the chapter that I'm going to write next (i.e. it was supposed to blow up this chapter) but I never quite build it up enough to my satisfaction. Trust me when I say I want the fluff as much as the rest of you do.

KeitaWolf: Your review made me laugh so hard, and worry a little. If I scared my readers, I didn't intend to…its just that's my history…to kill off characters. However, I think at the current time, if Tristan died, Rory would most likely slowly self destruct…thereby ending the story. My title comes from a Disney song…I want at least a bittersweet ending. Not a sad one.

Jade: Thanks for the idea, I've decided to work it in. However, as much as I outline what I want a chapter to contain, I sort of let the fingers do the typing and see if it comes out naturally. I've decided that a Tristan-chaser will show up and solidify Rory's opinion of Tristan' true nature, but not until after I do a big Tristan confronts Rory scene.

Cjg6: I'm slightly confused. The other girl? Alison? Tristan's sister? Or the one who wanted the tiaras and pearls? The "regular little leech"? Well, I was simply thinking of gold diggers in general that Tristan would have by now learned to at least recognize, but I also guess Miss Muffy of London would fit that description too.

Oh, one apology. Proof reading of this chapter is minimal at best.

Please review and have a great weekend.


	12. Some Enchanted Evening

Disclaimer: They are not mine. I own nothing but my ideas.

**Some Enchanted Evening**

Rory looked around in amazement. The ballroom had no walls, only pane glass windows divided almost invisibly with thin white support beams, the ballroom looked out into a massive tropical garden covered in twinkle lights. Even with all the A-list event exposure Rory had had with the LDB nothing ever prepared her for the first wave of awe that always occurred upon entrance to such a grand event.

Tristan whirled her around the room, making the usual perfunctory introductions. The entire time, Tristan kept his arm firmly planted on Rory's waist and not without difficulty kept his hand from wandering. The affect was immediate and lasting, Rory needn't have put blush on as Tristan's close attention kept the blood in her cheeks. Tristan however was oblivious to this affect on her, actually he thought that even with the air-conditioning Rory's dress was a tad too heavy for the tropics. He never considered that he could have such an effect on her without any effort.

Rory felt very much like the little princess going to the ball. She had a handsome prince escort, a gorgeous dress, exotic local what more could a girl want. Tonight was going to be magical. Nothing could go wrong.

Until…

Someone exiting the ballroom to take a private walk in the gardens caused a quick waft of tropical air to blow past Rory, nothing particularly special about draft, except the scent carried past her. Rory inhaled deeply, the rich preppy cologne immediately evoking a warm fuzzy feeling in the deep recesses of her stomach. Logan's cologne. With eyes closed, she didn't notice Tristan's attention fall back on her. On the back of her eyelids, she could see images float across, the sweater and leather jacket she would lean against while walking outside with Logan on a cold day to warm her nose. The tanned silky expanse of chest and soothing heartbeat lullaby she slept on, safe and secure…but as always, memory is a two sided coin, the memory of heartbreak, the memory of being alone, the thought that something was wrong with her.

_It's the Gilmore's fate, to have heartache, heartbreak, to have those that we love leave us. Mom left Grandma and Grandpa, Dad left Mom, Dean, Jess, Logan left me… _Rory stopped herself before the runaway train of negative thoughts could pull her from the previous joy and amusement of the evening.

The energy and precision to control and rein in her thoughts had come back somewhat in the past few days. She was still vulnerable, but the removal of worry about running into Logan around campus and the diversions Tristan planned had help her start to rebuild, but to even stop her negative thoughts at the moment drained her.

Tristan wordlessly watched as Rory's personality collapsed, not in pain and agony, he would have recognized the after effects that had surrounded their first Yalie encounter. Rory collapsed from exhaustion. His support of her increased, the arm around her waist tightened and his far arm reached in front to lead her by the hand. With a wordless nod towards Finn indicating the gardens, Tristan took Rory outside. Rory was physically fine, but the mental exertion of controlling her virulent thoughts had taken a lot out of her. She complacently let Tristan lead her, even moving to bury her face in the crook of his shoulder, deeply inhaling Tristan's sharper more poignant scent in an attempt to starve the fuel the memories had fed on.

As they walked past the waiters on their way outside, Tristan leaned over and whispered to an attendant to bring as many mosquito coils as possible to the koi pond and to leave them in an effective perimeter around a stone bench. Tristan lead Rory to the bench raking his mind for every bit of information he had about her, how to support her without invading her space. The koi were the best he could do at such a late hour, he just hoped they would give her a fraction of the peace her beloved Japanese Garden did at home.

As they reached the bench, Tristan sat first, while Rory remained standing and stared at her feet. He was amazed, Rory could, without changing a single physical thing about herself go from beautiful, to gorgeous and sexy, to enchanting, back to a child. A revelation hit him. If he was to be successful and convince this enigma to stay by his side, he would have to appeal all aspects of her nature. The child needed the love and affection and be a strong male role model, the refined and literati aspect needed stimulation and challenge, while the constrained proper society girl needed a balance between order and propriety, with spontaneity. The answer was so simple, Tristan finally understood why it had eluded men for so long. Girls think too much, and they jump to conclusions too often, the always want what they do not have, and therefore are confused when making choices leading them to be the temperamental confusing contradictions that men deal with.

As Rory finally peeled her gaze from the dull pavement, Tristan noticed how vulnerability made Rory appear as naïve as she had in high school. In a voice so tiny he had actually pieced her request together by reading her lips, she said "Tristan, can I….may….I… sit on your lap? Please?"

The request was so tentative and unsure Tristan felt it pull at his heart demanding attention. "Mary, you never have to ask." With that Tristan opened his arms and Rory sat sideways across his lap. She finally let herself go and Tristan simply held her for what he thought was the shortest half hour in his life.

"Thank you." Again the tiny voice, so soft it could be mistaken for the wind through the trees broke the silence that had become so comfortable between the couple.

"You're welcome." Tristan decided to wing it and let Rory lead this interaction.

"Why are you so nice to me?" Rory sat up a little and instead of talking into his shoulder while gazing off across the pond she looked at his face. It had been so long since she had been held by a strong male. As a child she could wheedle gruff affection from Luke, while being crushed at her attempts at affection with her father. As a teen, there had been Dean, Jess, Logan. For the past year there had been no one. It was not appropriate in her mind to hug friends, somehow with all her male friends having either girlfriends or interests, it wasn't appropriate to turn to them for affection of the physical nature.

"Because you deserve to be treated that way." Tristan replied as if it was the most natural answer.

"Why did you take me here?" she continued.

"Here as in Singapore, or here as in the garden…well I took you away from Yale cause you seemed to be doing horribly there, you needed a change of scenery and company. The garden because I thought you were about to faint for a moment in there, besides…" Tristan continued while bringing his hand to cup her cheek. "The view is more lovely out here with the little lights than being stifled in that ballroom."

When the evidence doesn't match the hypothesis Rory knew she may have jumped to the wrong conclusion. Wasn't it Sir Karl Popper who said, just because scientists have only ever encountered white swans it doesn't mean all swans are white? One can never fully prove a hypothesis to be true whereas it would only take one discovery to disprove it. Just because all the men in Rory's life had been jerks, doesn't mean all are. Look at how many it took her mom to go through before she found Luke? Where would the world be if everyone simply accepted the knowledge they gained through experience as law? Special Relativity would never had replaced aspects of Newtonian physics, Light would never be considered both a wave and a particle, the world would not make sense.

Rory decided, that she would take the chance, the chance she knew she now needed to make her world make sense.

"Tristan," Rory's voice though still weak held a note of determination. "I need you to tell me truthfully like you promised, I am not a conquest, a notch in your belt or headboard."

Tristan understood the gravity of her request and worded his response carefully. "Once upon a time, many years ago, I can't tell you whether you were a conquest or not."

At this Rory's face fell, and a tear leaked out the side. "Oh…" she started.

Tristan's grip around her tightened as he moved to wipe away the offending tear with the pad of his thumb. "Now, you are not. I haven't entertained a conquest in years. I escort many girls attempting to land me to events that I am obligated to attend, but I never pay them more attention than the perfunctory introductions, one dance and a drink. With you, I've spent more time stressed out over your condition and happiness than anything else. I told you on the plane. I'm in this for the future. If I ever get you to agree to be my girlfriend, I promise it would be exclusive for the duration and if I had my way it ends with two Dugreys and death do us part."

At this admission, Rory rested her head against Tristan's shoulder, her breath tickling his ear and neck. "Then I think there's some things I need to share. I want to share as much as I can, but some of it is confusing, I don't quite understand me…but I'll tell you what I know."

As she moved off Tristan's lap so he could be more comfortable during her sharing time, Rory caught the last refrain of "Moon River" playing as the doors opened once more to let another couple seeking privacy escaped from the ballroom. With the doors closing behind the defectors, the music faded. Rory felt that definitively this night, she would place her history where it belonged and move forward with the reformed ladies man beside her. Whether her history would stay in the past where she wanted it was another question, but she felt that Tristan would know exactly what she needed to put it back if it acted up again.

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A/N: My lab class today got cancelled so I got off early. YAY! My good mood was very conducive to writing and I felt inspired. Next chapter (or two) will be Rory telling Tristan her past, her insecurities and essentially laying it out on the line for Tristan. We all know what he's going to do with her heart . How long the chapters are completely depend on the "Rory" in my head, how much she wants to share and how much detail she wants to put in.

LoVe23: I would show you what all the chapters look like, but in all honesty, they're not written down in some notebook or even drafted on paper or computer. I find if I do that…I never actually get around to writing, it will stay in the planning stages for ages. So, I have a general idea of what I want them to do, I aim for the characters to reach each point, but the path there…totally up to the story and it's flow.

For example, I had planned when I sat down to write this chapter today for Rory to blow up and really attack Tristan, but when they got to the party, they had other plans and instead of an angry aggressive Rory, we've got the side of Rory that ends up with a hangover and a tile print on her cheek.

To my dear readers and reviewers, I hope you have an amazing weekend.


	13. Show And Tell

Disclaimer: They are not mine. I own nothing but my ideas.

**Show and Tell**

After what seemed like ages to Rory, Tristan interrupted her thoughts on how to begin.

"How about we start from here, if you don't mind. I'd kiss you but your boyfriend is watching." Tristan offered.

"I guess that's as fair a position to begin as any. Well, after you left, Paris was Romeo, Dean was Dean and eventually was replaced by Jess. Dean and I were over for a second time at the Stars Hollow Dance Marathon, and Jess and I got together. Jess and I were together even though my mom didn't like him and Luke, that's Jess' uncle and my mother's boyfriend, the provider of coffee and feeder of the Gilmore Girls also didn't approve of us being together. He left me a bunch of times, always without saying goodbye. I thought I loved him. That takes me up to graduation. That's the cliff notes version." Rory rambled.

"Then there was university." Rory continued. "For the first year I was in a slump. I couldn't get a date if I tried and there was an embarrassing incident of me asking someone out and that person spreading around campus about this girl who would not quit. Anyways I exploded at him, and found out it was about another girl. Talk about humiliating." At this she looked at Tristan, attempting desperately to gauge his reaction. Basing whether or not to share her major indiscretion with him. He simply looked at her, eyes completely cool and unfazed by what she'd said so far.

"I was so lonely. I'd always had a guy to hang out with, to be special with, and then there were none. I don't exactly remember how it happened. Dean got married. He was unhappy, he was at my house, and then we were in my room…" Rory trailed off and Tristan got tense. You could see the amount of control lining and restraining his features. "We…we…I…yea. I grew up. Or at least I thought I did. I just wanted to feel loved and safe. Dean was safe. His wife found out, Stars Hollow found out…I could have died from embarrassment and guilt. I was the other woman. He got separated and we tried dating for a while. This is when things started between Logan and I. Well not really started but I met him." Rory paused for a long time, looking at Tristan and seeing if there was judgement or acceptance staring back at her, she found neither…it took a lot for her to continue.

"Dean and I were finding it difficult to arrange our schedules to meet and spend time together. He was to pick me up early from a party my grandmother held for me. It was to introduce me to other Yale families. More like auction me off to the highest bidder. Logan saved me from another boring automaton of the elitist factory…we formed a sub-party and drowned our boredom in liquor, while Finn took my mind off my problems with a train wreak version of "The passion of the Christ." You know Finn, it was so horrible, but you just couldn't tear your eyes away." At this fond memory Rory grinned remembering how even back then, Finn was there.

"I forgot the time, and Dean was out front, I ran out followed by Logan, Finn and the gang. Dean saw me all dressed up and slightly tipsy…he broke up with me again and drove off." Rory's voice became once again laden with heartache. No matter how many years past, how many good memories she held, the hurt of rejection never dulled enough to fade to the background. Unconsciously she once again leaned into Tristan's arm, which he lifted automatically to place around her shoulders.

"Logan and I…that was the first relationship I ever initiated. When he wouldn't ask me out after we hung out for a while, I got the idea to initiated it after my dad told me about his and mom's first kiss. I…I…negotiated and convinced him I wanted no strings. He does no strings very well if you didn't know. It got hard, I didn't want to do it anymore, and it took a night on the bathroom floor and countless cups of Miss Patty's Founder's Day punch to get me to realize the relationship was killing me. I told him I wanted out, and low and behold. He committed. Mr. Flavour of the Day committed. Things were wonderful. He was supportive, we had fun, we bantered and argued and he pushed my boundaries. I had such wonderful memories. We respected each other's space but couldn't wait till the next time we could see each other." Rory drifted off in thought for a few moments, just watching the koi in the pond and sighing as the years drifted by through her mind. The arm Tristan had draped around her reached her hand and started to rub soothing circles on the back of her hand almost unconsciously. If anyone had decided to look their way, they would have mistaken them for two lovebirds sharing a wordless conversation chocked full of subjects. But alas, reality would have shown a confused young girl and a young man learning the strength and 'je ne sais quoi' needed to succeed in love and life.

"My grandparents loved that we were together, I bet they even had wedding china patterns picked out and had scared the country club into being prepared at a moment's notice to hold an engagement reception. His parents and his grandfather on the other hand, were really against it. It touched me, he was willing to go against them to stay together, and I thought everything was going well. We had our ups and downs, but we always managed to make it through. I thought that with everything we had to overcome to stay together, we'd always stay together. I mean, I got through his player ways, I got him to commit. He got me to return to school and reconcile with my mom. He protected me from his family…" Rory started to distance herself, almost trying to cushion her own emotions from the pain of recounting the past, even at her own will. Tristan simply gripped her harder, and started rubbing his hand up and down her arm, a tactile anchor to the present.

"Then one night," she continued. "Actually, not one night, our one year anniversary. A good friend of mine was having a party, he wanted me to go. I didn't really know anyone there so I wanted Logan to go with me. He hadn't planned anything for our one year, and I didn't want to push the subject, but I at least wanted to spend the day with him, even if it was surrounded by others. Everything seemed ok. He seemed a little distracted but he explained he had a heavy course load. Anyways, I gave him his space and when the party was really going, and I started to enjoy myself, he called. At first just to check on me and he sounded a little sad. I just chalked it up to him being moody. Then he called later that evening, wanted to go out for coffee and just see me. I really didn't want to leave the party but he didn't sound like himself so I left, got in my car and drove the 40 minutes back to campus. When I got there I was so tired, I walked into his dorm and into his arms half asleep. He wanted to go out for coffee, but I was too tired so we simply stayed in. We lay on his bed perfectly content to just stay like that. I lay on his chest and he stroked my hair. I thought everything was perfect with the world. Then he broke up with me. He didn't let me leave the room either. Eventually, a few minutes in, I lost it, I went hysterical, I cried, I did all the things a girl does after she gets dumped, but he wouldn't let me leave his room." A single tear escaped the corner of Rory's eye and Tristan took out a neat monogrammed handkerchief from his jacket pocket and wiped her eye then handed her the cloth. "I don't remember much. Just that he tried to keep me calm and comfort me…I think I ended up giving him a bunch of bruises his chest…I just didn't want him to touch me." Rory's voice trailed off again.

Silence weighed, a thick wool blanket itching the developing couple in the tropical heat and humidity.

"I guess he was smart. If I had left, I probably would have tried driving back to Stars Hollow…who knows what might have happened in the emotional state I was in." Rory shuddered from the thought. I felt so stupid, so naïve and so depressed. He had become such a large part of my life. He was my first call, even before my mom sometimes. Now, I couldn't call, I couldn't see him with others. Every time a new girl was on his arm…I wondered what they had that I didn't. Every time I saw a couple, it reminded me of my horribly single status." Rory laughed a terribly bitter laugh. "I actually went as far as looking casually at engagement bands…I knew exactly which one I wanted too. Logan knew too…I thought that was what he was going to ask me that night." Rory just looked off into the distance. No emotion whatever showing on her face. Tristan was slightly scared at the coldness emanating from the girl beside him. For a person that usually showed such strong emotions whether happy or sad, to suddenly sense no emotion from them was frightening. Like a rushing river instantaneously drying up.

Tristan could only sit in silence unsure of whether Rory was done sharing.

"Aren't you going to run away? I'm not Mary. I've done horrible things. I've been the other woman, I've broken a marriage, I've put my heart in the hands of boys and men that could have cared less…" Rory ranted again, the temporary stillness of moments before the eye of the storm. A temporary respite from the storm that rages throughout.

Even with all of Tristan's amazingly insightful insights he was at a loss. She moved too fast for him to even wrap his mind around all she said. He had only his regular male training to fall back upon. So, as a last resort (not that he minded terribly) he held a finger to her lips to silence her. Rory's head turned towards Tristan and he slowly leaned towards her. When he was close enough to share her breath, he removed his finger. "Mary, and you are forever **MY** Mary. I don't care about your past, I've likely got a past more soiled and repented less than you. I just want a chance at the future." Tristan breathed into her hoping that his words and his sincerity would penetrate her shell as her air did.

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A/N: I've promised myself that I am going to actually complete something I've started writing. I can sort of imagine where this will end, so…when I'm bored and I'm procrastinating…I'll write. The begining history of Rory is brief, we all know it by heart. However, I went into slightly more detail regarding the later stages of my version of the Rogan relationship and breakup but not too much detail. I don't know of any girl who will share every nitty gritty detail about exs with a potential.

Thank you dear reviewers for being so polite in your reviews even when you are confused or have criticisms. Common courtesy goes a long way.

Jalna: Thank you for such a long review. However, I'm slightly confused regarding if the summary of Tristan is meant for me as a guide. Thank you if it is. However, I disagree with you about how Tristan should change. I think if a person changes for someone else, it will never last and resentment becomes an issue. A person has to change for themselves if the change and the relationship were to last.

Please review and comment. I thoroughly enjoy reading your reviews and I know how difficult it is to review. Sometimes I read amazing stories and I want to say something, but it just left me speechless. Stupid I know, but true.


	14. Midnight Musings

Disclaimer: They are not mine. I own nothing but my ideas.

**Midnight Musings**

Rory tore her eyes from Tristan's and moved once more to look out over the pond. Eventually, her head came to rest against Tristan's chest and she gave over to sleep once again. This is how Finn and Alison found them as the party wound down.

"You know mate, your ego is really taking a beating. Every time you have the girl of your dreams in your arms she falls asleep or cries. I don't know how you can take it." Finn interrupted Tristan's silent guard over Rory.

Alison could only giggle, "Look at my big bro now. The car is waiting out front."

Tristan wondered how he could get the slumbering Rory out to the car with minimal fuss. He tried to wake her and she took a healthy slug at his direction then grabbed onto his coat lapel refusing to leave her sleep. He then decided to see if she could stand in her sleep, when he succeeded in rendering her upright, with the support of Finn and Alison, they eventually "sleep walked" her to the car.

The ride home was silent, when they arrived, Finn and Alison quietly left for the living room and some après drinks and companionship. Tristan was wordlessly given the job of getting Rory into bed. By herself of course.

After sticking her in the washroom with her nightclothes and waiting 10 minutes, Rory emerged still half in her dream world. She headed straight for the turned down bed (who knew Tristan could turn down a bed?) and clamoured on. Without bothering to cover herself she promptly snuggled into the mattress and whispered a good night.

Tristan came across to the bed from his vigil spot on her chaise seat to tuck Rory in. While pulling the sheets up he whispered a "good night dearest Mary" and proceeded to kiss her on the cheek. Rory however had other plans, she moved as he moved in and he ended up getting a corner of an ear.

Still Rory smiled. "Stay with me?" She whispered, not even facing Tristan.

"Are you sure?" was the tentative reply.

"Just sleep." She waved a hand vaguely in his direction and upon contact with his chest, pulled down hard until Tristan was lying next to her on top of the sheets.

Rory woken a few short hours later to find Tristan laying beside her with her lying half on top of him, treating him as a body pillow. There was an odd sound somewhere in the room…a light musical tone. Playing the oompa looma song? Her mind still foggy with sleep and comfort tried to triangulate the source of the sound. Her cell phone. Who knew she still had reception half way around the world?

As she picked up the phone, "MY CHILD!" Lorelai's voice much to boisterous for the very early hour of the morning led Rory to wince and tear the phone from her ear. "Finally, you will entertain your mother won't you? The one who spent countless…well 36 hours in labour with you, the one who endured cravings and the oddest toddler on the planet and somehow gave you the wondrous genes that allow you to read all the books you want without needed glasses?"

"Mom, what is it? I was sleeping."

"Alone?"

Rory whispered. "No"

"You slept with the hottie!" Rory could hear her mom's glee dance in the background.

"Wait, you're still my daughter, no…bad picture. Wait. Want to hear what I did today? Well I got Luke to drive me out to the Jelly Belly Factory near Silicon Valley, and the Durham group got me this really cool suite at the Hilton…so my afternoon involved Luke, a bellybutton full of jellybeans and…"

"EWWWWWWWWWWWW. Mom that was an overshare. Is there a point?"

"Well so eventually we went out on the town and he said I should get some culture while I'm here. But I was all hyper off the sugar. Now I can't stop bouncing off the walls and Luke is giving me a dirty look."

"How is it going for you?"

"I guess we haven't spoken in a while since I left for Singapore."

"Yes, and bible boy?"

"We're good."

Rory gazed over at Tristan's prone form. The man was such a bed hog. Lying on his back in a now crinkled tux he was spread out like a starfish occupying as much space as he could. She giggled.

"We went to a ball, I can't even remember if we danced, but we talked and it was horrible, but magical." Rory continued.

"Aw…well if it's right then its right. Don't think too much. Think a little, but not too much. Too little thinking and you end up with a thousand daisies, too much and you end up waiting 10 years to make a move." Lorelai just had to insert her little bit of mommy wisdom.

"Ooh, my chocolate is here. Room service and concierge is the best. I had them run out and get me some Ghirardelli's chocolate sauce, and a paintbrush." Lorelai let out a semi-maniacal giggle.

"Did you just giggle mom? Don't go all evil on me now."

"Semi-evil daughter, semi-evil, not evil enough to get convicted or committed, but just enough to keep it interesting. I've got to go now." Lorelai abruptly hung up but not before Rory heard a weird squeal and a breathy "Oh Luke."

With a slight shudder and a smile, she looked over where the moonlight now bathed the sleeping prince. Oddly refreshed, Rory took her phone and used the backlight to search the bookshelves in the room carefully. Looking for an old tattered tome she vaguely thought she spotted earlier.

_Bingo._ She thought. Great Expectations, not normally one of her usual picks for a late night read, she usually preferred a junk novel. Not that she usually read them otherwise. Or something soothing like Anna Karenina. She curled in an armchair facing the bed and simply stared at the man in her bed. All felt right with the world, that anticipation and crisp smell of things to come invaded her senses. She turned a well worn and loved page to start at the beginning.

Tristan's cell phone began to vibrate in his pocket. Groaning and wondering where the sound was originating from Tristan realized he was neither in his own bed or in only his boxers. The now unfamiliar feeling of waking in a strange place in all states of undress brought Tristan to his senses with unbelievable speed. He tried to remember how much he had consumed the night before. Only 2 glasses sipped. He sat up and realized he was still fully dressed, relief filled his features, so nothing happened last night with Rory. However, he noticed that her pillow was cold. She had left, but his phone alarm rang at 6 so he'd be at the lawyers at 7 before meeting with the company board members. He looked around the room and saw her curled up on the couch. His favourite novel lying open in her lap. He loved Great Expectations, others found Dickens dry and extremely long winded, but he revelled in the language and easy pace just floating along with the mundane of the every day. Such a different world than his own, yet comforting in its own manner.

Tristan picked her up and placed her gingerly back in the bed. _If she keeps this up, I won't have to do squats at the gym. The girl is deceivingly heavy when she's asleep._ With that he pounded at his lower back to try to release the kinks and pulled the covers up around Rory who had curled around into a little ball, and had stolen his pillow. As he wasted precious seconds which he needed to get ready, he saw her turn her head into his pillow, breathe deep and the cutest little baby smile spread across her face. Snuggling down even further into the pillow she whispered. "Love you."

Trying hard no to think too much of her unconscious admission, he tried to reason that she was likely dreaming of ice cream, coffee, or even Oompa Loompas. Anything she could love other than another guy, the possibility of which made Tristan sad, or himself. The possibility of which made Tristan crazy with hope. Hope he knew from experience was dangerous to harbour due to its volatile damaging potential.

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A/N: First of all, sorry it took so long, homework comes first, and then I had some problems getting the chapter going again. Another thing, who knew Microsoft World could spell check Ghirardelli's? Thank you everyone for your kind responses. Anyways on to the reviews I'd like to comment on.

Shirleyytb: Thank you for your view on the story. I actually never thought of Tristan's actions could be interpreted as a buy-off. I was hoping to convey that he just wanted to treat her like a princess, but didn't expect anything in return. Totally unrealistic I know, but I want the perfect romance novel hero.

As for the Lorelai-Rory or Lorelai-anyone conversations, I'm frankly a little afraid and tentative of writing them. There's that weird quirky quippy quality (wow say that 10 times fast ) to all of their banter, and I'm not sure how to pull it off. Everyone can tell if you've done it well, cause we're so used to seeing it on the show, but to write it without plagiarizing and yet keeping the character confines of the show…

Thank you for reading, please review. Comments and criticisms welcome.

Oh, and thank you for those who have been reviewing every chapter. You know who you are.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: They are not mine. I own nothing but my ideas.

**Lazy Day**

When Rory woke several hours later, she sleepwalked to the bathroom, did her usual morning things then dressed in a sundress and sandals fit for a D.A.R. luncheon. Only then when she was pouring out coffee from the carafe Martha was so thoughtful to fill did she realize that the house was unusually silent. With Finn and Alison and Tristan there besides herself and the help, one would assume there would be noise of some sort coming from any area of the house. With her coffee in hand and the tottering bumbling walk of one who has yet to consume adequate amounts of caffeine, Rory took off in search of her companions.

The games room, TV room, den, kitchen, foyer, lounge and bar were all empty. Curious more now than anything, she continued her individual exploration of the house. One of the bedrooms she entered had a large queen sized bed that obviously was not slept in last night. The room had a cosy lived in quality, done in warm rich autumn colours that invited her to cuddle under the comforter even in the humid weather. With the air conditioning on full blast, a day in that bed would be heaven. She checked the hallway with the guilty look of a two year old doing something naughty, Rory slipped off her sandals and jumped onto the bed, giggling as the reverberating bounce jostled the blankets and pillows. Across the bed on the full length mirror closet, there was a note taped on with her name in block letters. Curious as to what a note meant for her was doing in a room that she'd never been in before, she pulled it off and once again bounced onto the bed to read it. On her stomach with her feet waving in the air, she admired the neat script that greeted her on the inside.

The note was dated that morning, and read.

_Mary, Mary quite contrary,_

_If you are reading this note then you've found my bedroom. And I suspect you are terribly bored or everyone has already left for the day. Today is the helps' day off and Alison and Finn told me that they were heading to the Cricket Club for a morning match of tennis and breakfast. Depending on what time you read this they will either be calling soon to see if you're awake or be heading back to get ready for their little side trip. I'll be busy all day with terribly boring legal things however I should be done in time for a late dinner. Would you do me the honour of accompanying me to dinner tonight? I'll call you later to confirm._

_-Tristan_

The letter in all its simplicity couldn't help but touch Rory, and she allowed herself a moment of childishness, bringing the note to her face she inhaled hoping to find the scent of the writer, then hugging a pillow bounded off the bed for the living room, sandals forgotten.

A little while later, Rory was flipping through the channels on the TV with Tristan's pillows burying her into the couch. The front door opened and Finn and Alison walked in.

"You didn't beat me love, I let you." Finn's voice was petulant as he tried to salvage his pride.

"Oh yea Finn, that's why I won every game and you didn't even manage to take a single set off of me right?" countered Alison.

"That's right, what kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't let the lady win?" cajoled Finn.

"The kind that you aren't Finn. I say if I had wagered alcohol or a date on those matches you could have taken me easily. I could tell you were restraining the power on the serves. I'm a grown lady, I can handle a vigorous match."

"Can you?" Finn wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Well then, we'll just have to see about that, my stamina is infamous."

"Probably infamously short."

"You wound me, fair Alison."

"In your dreams."

"No in yours…"

Finn and Alison's sexual tension began to stifle their unknown audience so Rory decided to cut in.

"Well it seems like you've had a productive morning."

Unfazed at all, Finn answered, "yes, and we were wondering if you'd like to see the real Singapore. When you only go to the high class areas, they're all the same. Whether you buy Dior in France, England or Asia, it's the same product."

"Sure." Rory replied.

"Just go change into comfortable clothes and we'll go explore. How's that?" Alison offered. "We'll just quickly rinse down and meet back here in say…20 minutes?"

Finn leered at Alison. "Better make that an hour."

Alison simply looked at Finn and lobbed a tennis ball at his head. "Nope, make that 20 minutes and SEPARATE showers."

Finn groaned and relented.

An hour later, Rory, Finn and Alison entered an open air building, the heat and humidity stifled Rory and heavy but incredibly fragrant smoke filled the air. "Welcome to your first hawker center experience." Alison began.

Rory took in her surroundings, plastic tables and stools were bolted into a tiled floor. There were different food stalls lining the walls, each stall sold a varying number of dishes. Some were soup stalls, barbecued meat stalls, vegetarian stalls, noodle stalls, drink stalls and dessert stalls and those were only the ones Rory could identify at a glance.

Unsure, Alison continued. "I know it's a huge culture shock, the floor looked well trod upon with mud tracked in from the outside and spilled food that stray cats were fighting over. But it's the best food, everyone eats at food areas like this. From the poorest people to the richest."

Rory could see the types of people eating here, there were the rich in their branded polo shirts and khakis and the poorest in mismatched clothing and rubber flipflops. The cars in the parking lot just meters from the entrance also told the story. Every kind of car, motorcycle and bicycle packed the parking lot. With a smile and a sniff of the food a vendor carried past her, Rory simply grinned and said, "So where do we begin?"

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A/N: Hawker Centers have absolutely the best food and often its dirt-cheap. I find them hard to describe cause the closest thing North America has in comparison are wet markets. I spend a lot of time there and I actually think for local specialities its better to go to a hawker center (out door food court than a posh restaurant). Pure filler chapter.

Thank you for the reviews, and don't worry, a real foot popping kiss is coming soon. We want there to be warm fuzzy feelings behind it right? Patience dear grasshoppers.


	16. Sweet Anticipation

Disclaimer: They are not mine. I own nothing more than my ideas. If I did…do you think I'd spend my free time entertaining you all?

**Sweet Anticipation**

An unquantifiable number of dishes, drinks and desserts later, Rory surveyed the damage. She attempted to recall all the exotic dishes she had eaten. For starters they had lovely shrimp croquettes with a mayonnaise dressing, for the meal, a plethora of local delicacies including Nasi Lemak, coconut rice, a mild green curried vegetable stew, a spicy sambal stingray, Tom yam soup with mussles, clams and prawns and steamed clams. For dessert they had a cold sweet soup with a coconut milk base and tapioca balls called sago floating at the top. Just listing off the foods consumed that lunch hour made Rory's head spin and turned her slightly nauseous. Even with Lorelai's strange food consumption training the new spices and combinations were stretching Rory's digestive tract to its limits.

Groaning contentedly the three hailed a cab and headed back to the apartment, desperate for some decent air conditioning in their now sticky state.

"I'm burning from the inside, and I'm sweating on the outside." Alison complained.

"Oh my gosh. My mom would have loved that food. We have Al's Pancake World and occasionally he does a theme month but his Asian/Thai month had nothing on that. That was amazing. The fragrance, the taste, the chili burn down your throat, watery eyes…" Rory started to ramble.

Finn looked on with mock anger. "If I didn't know better. I'd say she was sarcastically making fun of our lunch choices."

This comment was lost on Rory as she continued to rave about the scrumptious lunch.

"And the wee little piggy cried whee whee whee all the way 'ome." Finn mocked Rory in friendship of course.

"Who are you calling a piggy!" Rory cried. "Well maybe if you called me Miss Piggy cause she's cool. She could kick Kermie's butt any day of the week. Refined, well mannered, manipulative and not scared to be a strong character. Is there any other way to go?"

"Congratulations, you have not managed to stop her rant, only redirect it." Alison mock whispered.

Back at the apartment, the afternoon was spent in lazy bliss.

"What better way to spend an afternoon, tanning by a pool, in the tropics…" Rory directed at Alison, reclined on the outdoor deck beside her currently perusing the latest copy of Vogue.

"Well, it's better for you. From what I gather, my brother has a magical night planned for you. Whereas I've got a tub of Hagen-daz to keep me company." Alison groaned.

"That's not true, you've got Finn." Rory cut in with the dutiful good friend statement. Yes, she and Alison somehow were kindred spirits, comfortable with each other and in each other's presences without having to spend a billion years getting to know each other.

"Yea, but you've got my brother. You have no idea do you. I don't want to scare you or interfere, but I think there's a few things you need to know about my brother. For yours and his sakes."

Rory pulled off her sunglasses and squinted in Alison's direction.

"In high school he used to call and email me about his Mary. The girl that would never give him the time of day. And then suddenly one day he had a plan. You were free, he made himself free from his arm candy of the moment and planned this big display of his intentions with you. He racked up a huge phone bill asking me how to ask you to some concert. I think it was PJ Harvey. He even asked if he was cute. PJ Harvey. Poor guy didn't have a CLUE! Anyways it was supposed to start with the concert, then dinner, then a BBQ at the beach, then horseback riding with a picnic, all these things, just to hear him spout off all these romantic things he had planned made me jealous of you. That some guy, especially my brother would plan not just expensive impress you dates, but thoughtful ones that you would probably like. True he still thought it was just to get into your pants, but still, to put that much thought into it. I figured he just needed to wait until his head caught up with his heart maturity wise." Alison looked over to Rory going pale.

"Please don't worry about it, he's a tough man. Just don't doubt his sincerity no matter what. Above all else, I think his feelings for you are sincere. He makes an ass of himself sometimes trying to express it, but hey… if he was perfect, he'd put the Disney princes out of work." Alison laughed.

As Rory was about to respond, there was a giant splash of water…Finn attempted a cannon ball ….at the shallow end of the pool and was currently floating face down in the water.

Alison literally jumped from her spot into the pool and started racing to Finn's location. As she reached to turn him over, he swept her into his arms and kissed her smack on the lips.

Sputtering with not only water but indignation Alison screamed at Finn and started beating his chest with all her strength.

"Don't you dare do such things. You guys think you're so funny faking accidents and making light of death…don't you dare do that!" As Alison realized the depth of caring she was currently exhibiting towards a certain accident prone Aussie she froze and the cool demeanor of a future socialite swept back across her features.

Looking down her nose at Finn, even though he towered a head above her was no easy task. Neither was diverting his gaze away from her white swimsuit that was never meant to be wet. "Pervert, my eyes are up here."

"Funny," Finn chuckled, "but I could have sworn two little ones were winking at me."

"Why you…" once again at a loss as to why Finn could always get the last word with her she swam back close to her towel, hauled herself out and quickly wrapped herself and headed in doors. Completely ignoring the giggling mess that was Rory.

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Once more later on, Walter and Finn were discussing Tristan's chances later that evening.

"You give him credit for too much cleverness." Began Finn. "My impression was that he's just another blundering American."

"We musn't underestimate American blundering. I was with them when they blundered into Berlin in 1918." Walter replied.

"That's good! That's great. Let us see how far we can take it?"

(Slam)

Both Finn and Walter's concentrations were broken by the sound of Tristan entering the room. As they turned towards the front entrance they caught sight of Tristan, briefcase at hand one foot in the air with a cringe on his face.

"Sorry." Tristan apologized to Walter in particular. As he strode into the room, Tristan pulled his tie loose and undid his jacket button. He looked at the two men sitting at the table expectantly.

"Martha's prepared some tea for us in the kitchen. I'm sure they'd be a cup for you too." Walter began with a smile.

"Oh and Alison's mad that I wreaked her new swimsuit." Finn offered with a smothered chuckle.

To this Tristan simply cocked his eyebrows and continued to look not too pleasantly on the two men.

"She's in her room mate. Waiting to hear from you?" Finn offered.

"That's a good man." Tristan threw the words over his shoulder as he was already striding towards Rory's closed door. With a confident stride he threw his briefcase on the couch and kicked off his shoes.

Knocking on Rory's door, he heard a melodious, "come in."

Entering he was knocked out once again with how beautiful Rory really was and she hadn't even put on make up yet. Rory once again had donned the sundress she had planned on wearing earlier and loosely curled her hair which was now held back by two barrettes.

"I just dressed up a tiny bit. I wasn't sure where we were going for dinner. And aren't you early?" questioned Rory.

"You look fine, and you have no idea where we're going for dinner and I am a bit early but that doesn't seem to be a problem now does it?" Tristan replied. "Just give me a bit of time to change and freshen up. We're eating outside, so you don't really need makeup, and its just us. It can get a little chilly at night especially cause it's not as humid so you may want a wrap. If you didn't bring one I'm sure Alison's probably got every type in her closet." At his last statement Tristan rolled his eyes as a big brother should.

Rory with eyes twinkling simply teased him, "sure, says the guy who probably has black Kenneth Cole shoes in every style with every stitching."

At that Tristan laughed heartily and simply replied. "Au contraire my fair lady, they are from Ferragamo."

Rory simply threw a pillow at Tristan retreating form and with a smile went back to prepping for her date.

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A/N: I know I know, life is crazy. Thanks for reading and reviewing. It makes my day.


	17. Denoument?

Disclaimer: They are not mine. I own nothing more than my ideas. If I did…do you think I'd spend my free time entertaining you all?

**Dénouement?**

To Rory's amazement they didn't even bother with a car to get to dinner. Tristan simply exited the apartment, offered his arm to Rory and proceeded into the now empty and dark Singapore Botanical Gardens conveniently located nearby. As they approached the darkened pathway, Rory paused for a moment and glanced up at the man who currently supported her both physically and now asked her allow him to support her emotionally. Rory could feel the change in the air. The unasked question of trust. Trust in Tristan to take care of her walking into the complete oppressing tropical rainforest darkness that the botanical gardens presented. Looking at him, the pro-con list was short. By a land slide, Tristan won in his favour.

With apprehension, Tristan slowed as the approached the entrance, waiting and holding his baited breath, waiting for Rory to protest the uncomfortable situation, claiming dangerous things that go bump in the night, or at least to joke about exactly how safe her virtue would be in an isolated situation with Tristan. Instead she surprised both herself and Tristan by wrapping her gauzy shawl tighter around her shoulders to ward off the prickly feeling of ghostly fingers she got at night.

Looking up at Tristan she whispered. "In omnia paratus."

Tristan only responded by clutching her hand tighter and as he heard Rory take a deep breath and they stepped into the complete darkness of the path, a motion sensor triggered and instead of being bathed in the shadows, Rory found herself in a sparkling wonderland not unlike the one at the party they had attended a few nights past.

As Rory gasped and twirled and twirled, giggling like a child again, Tristan could only beam at his job well done. He had borrowed the lights from the country club and pulled some strings to get them to set up the world famous orchid gardens with the sparkly lights and to stay open after hours. Until that moment he had been worried that his actions may have been compared to Logan's in her mind. He wanted desperately to separate her memories of him with her memories of Logan however with the precious little information he had to go on, this was the best he could come up with. Extravagant, yes, but it wasn't a sight meant for the world to see. No one would have to know about this date if Rory didn't want it. However much he wanted to be with Rory, for her to give him a chance, he didn't have the patience, nor the time, nor courage enough to stand by her if she didn't let him in soon. A person can only stand so much. Tristan had reasoned, it was the cowards way out, but its easier to be happy that the person you love is happy with someone else the farther you are from them. But for the moment things were looking up.

As Tristan seated them, he realized that he hadn't spoken a single word to Rory since they had left the room, yet that didn't seem to be a problem with them. Communication without words, and when there was nothing to say the silence was as comfortable as an old sweater.

Rory was simply taking her situation in, to be honest, in the last few days she had thought about Logan. She had compared the two boys, correction, a boy and a man, and there was no comparison. She did know however, that when she did think about Logan, there was simply a passing pang of regret that things didn't work out. No longer did she have full blown panic attacks of repressed feelings when he entered her mind. She felt at peace.

Throughout the dinner, they chatted about their lives after Chilton. However, unlike before, there was less of a focus on Tristan's past, and more on Rory's. Stars Hollow and it's cast of characters posing as small town potatoes, each with their unknown unbelievable quirks. Kirk and his unbelievable wealth and lack of business morals, Miss Patty and her unending quest for the next husband, Babette, the cool cats, Morey and the gnomes, Michel and his strange pseudo-French-ness… Rory simply rambled on and on. Eventually she got through thorough synopses of Dean, Jess and even Logan. As she spoke and spoke of her past and he listened as attentively as men during the first hockey game of the season, she realized as beneficial as what Tristan did for her was, it was time to go home.

Come what may, she's give Tristan this night, even if she was wrong and his intentions were the same as in high school. He deserved at least that much for what he'd done.

As she redirected the conversation back at Tristan, she found she wanted to share her world with him. This chameleon fit so well in with her, he just may survive the culture shock that was her home.

After dinner as Tristan pulled her close and slow danced with her to unheard music, Rory gathered unneeded courage to make her request known before his magic hands rubbing small circles on the small of her back lulled her into Doris Day female complacency.

From afar the couple looked like the perfect couple, the type that statistically shouldn't exist. As Rory whispered into Tristan's ear, his face broke into the most beautiful smirk then a smile. He picked Rory up by her waist and spun her around.

His answer was, "it may take a while to get there, but Mary, I thought you'd never ask."

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A/N: Muahahahaha. I'll tell you right off the bat…its not the question you'll likely think it is. But maybe it is…I'd like to know what you all think. Please review and thank you for reading. As to the "life is crazy" please elaborate…WELL…you've opened a can of worms…but since you asked so nicely. I've had a miserable week of midterms, projects going wrong…my photomicrographs of tissues…I worked forever to take the 35mm pictures I wanted…and when I developed….there was nothing there. I loaded the film in the camera wrong. I spilled a known carcinogen staining dye on my lab coat, and I lost my starbucks card…even though it only had 5 bucks on it…its still 5 bucks…one latte and a muffin. Plus, it was a pretty card too…the one with the silhouette couple dancing on it. Traffic was miserable and even though I left 15 minutes earlier to get to school on time for a midterm, I got to school 20 minutes later that I usually do because it seems like everyone has forgotten how to drive in the rain.

But BONUS! Over 200 reviews. You all are great. Amazing. I alway read stories with tonnes of reviews that were above average...and I thought, I could do better...I think I'm well on my way to developing my fiction skills.


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer. They are not mine. I don't own anything but my ideas.

A/N: Sorry about the cliff hanger, but here's another update. The two chapters were supposed to be one, but I got tired of typing and I went to sleep instead.

**Chapter 18**

"How are you going to pull that off?" queried Rory

"Well I definitely need to spend a few more days here, but I should be able to swing some more time. I mean, I have to be in the States, but they never said where in the states I have to be." Tristan pondered. He couldn't have planned this night any better. True, his wildest dream had not come true. Rory had not told him that she liked or loved him, but she had done the next best thing. She had invited him into her life.

In his memory there was nothing sweeter than the moment that Rory leaned and whispered into his ear, "Thank you Tristan for everything. I'm ready to go home now, let's go back to Stars Hollow? The both of us?" It wasn't a definitive yes, but it was definitely a step in the right direction, and if that direction was her home, so be it.

As they stepped off the elevator back at the apartment, Tristan inserted the key into the door, but before he turned it, he was distracted by Rory placing her hand on his hand that was negotiating with the door. "Tristan," she looked up at him, a new glow about her. "You've been amazing, absolutely amazing, and I really enjoyed spending this time with you." While she spoke she negotiated their positions so that he was leaning against the front door and she, with both hands planted firmly on his chest stretched up pushing him into the door as her eyes closed searching for yet another way he could make her feel complete and comfortable. As her eyes closed, his widened in disbelief at the role reversal. He managed to pull his wits together moments before her lips caressed his. A split second too late and she might have kissed empty space his gaping jaw had left.

Rory pulled away after that almost too short kiss slightly dazed and definitely wanting more. As she leaned back in for seconds she closed her eyes, confident of finding her mark. However, she instead found herself disorientated as Tristan whirled her around and pinned her against the door and held her there physically by his weight pressing into her softness.

"Mary, Mary, Mary, you do realize that you've opened the floodgate right?" Tristan's confidence and cockiness came back full force stoked by her courageous and encouraging actions. "I've wanted to put you in this position since sophomore year at Chilton." Tristan's hands started wandering from her hips up to caress the underside of her breasts and stopped just shy of becoming indecent. Her breath caught as he leaned in and teased her with his sweet breathe falling on her lips, sweet promises of things to come. Quick little butterfly kisses fell on her bottom lip, the left corner, the right corner, so fast and so arousing, Rory has problems keeping up and responding trapping her right where he wanted her, aroused, confused and wanting more.

Finally, he caught her lips and there was no clichéd explosion of colour, fireworks, and a dam breaking, just the spread of warmth, safety and bridled passion. Rory breathed in Tristan like he was life, at the moment; she needed him more than she needed oxygen. Besides, oxygen is highly overrated. Even though it had been a year since the last time she kissed someone, it was like riding a bicycle. When his tongue ran along her bottom lip seeking permission, she gave it, opening her mouth to him without question or hesitation. The ease and familiarity he felt when kissing Rory simply felt right, however, he broke off the kiss, choosing instead to kiss her forehead and jaw line till they both regained enough control to move their amorous activities into the house.

While Tristan valiantly fought with his now clumsy hands to open the door, Rory stood behind him wrapping her arms around his waist and peeking out at the door from behind his shoulder. The moment they entered, Tristan headed towards the couch, wanting to clear any apprehensions Rory might have had about their heated encounter; he definitely did not want her running away crying yet again. However Rory had other ideas. When Tristan sat on the couch, and pulled her towards the couch meaning for her to sit beside him, she took the initiative and straddled his lap. Now, with the added advantage of having Tristan captive and at her exploring pleasure, she began placing butterfly kisses on his eyelids, his nose, his neckline, essentially anywhere she could reach she wanted to kiss. Tristan was in heaven especially when Rory started nuzzling the soft area right under his ear. With more control than he should have had, he groaned and forcefully stopped Rory by pushing her away from him.

With sudden embarrassment at the seeming rejection Rory was receiving from Tristan, she couldn't stay a moment longer, Rory tried to run, which only made Tristan curse and hold on to her with all her might. Tristan couldn't help but think, good going Tris, give her the completely wrong idea.

"Rory?" Tristan began once she had calmed down and had instead opted to shift closer to Tristan's body and hide her head in the crook of his shoulder and neck.

"Let me go Tris, I don't know what I was thinking…I thought…well I guess I thought wrong. Let me go?" Rory begged, that small insecure voice that Tristan wished he'd never hear again was back.

"Rory, I just wanted to talk to you first. Trust me, I enjoyed those kisses as much as you and I only pushed you away because you made me lose my voice. If I let you go promise me you won't run? Promise me you'll sit beside me and hear me out?" Tristan tried to negotiate with the girl on his lap. Feeling her nod more than hearing her verbal consent, Tristan slowly eased his grip around her waist.

Quite obediently, Rory slipped from Tristan's lap and onto the leather beside him, with whatever remaining courage she had left, she looked up into his eyes, the man sitting beside her looking more and more like the boy she knew from high school. Hair tousled from an amorous companion, lips well kissed and still kissable, it took considerable will power to keep Rory from jumping back into Tristan's lap whether he was a willing participant or not.

"Rory?" Tristan's voice brought Rory out of her attacking Tristan thoughts.

"Rory, first of all let me say, wow. I've dreamt of that happening with you and me for what feels like ages. There are no regrets on my side. Second of all, how should I put this…" Tristan ran a hand through his hair trying desperately to seek the right words to use. "Ok, let me put it this way, when you show me your town, your life and you life's blood, what are you going to introduce me as. What do you want to introduce me as?" Tristan knew he was fishing and wasn't gaining points for eloquence but at least there was no other way Rory could twist his words.

"Well…" Rory began, her eyes darting around the room like a cornered mouse. "Well…" her fingers began fidgeting with her dress.

"Well what." Tristan's hand gently redirected her face and her gaze back to him. With the view into his eyes, Rory's demeanour took on an entirely new face. Knowing almost definitively his answer, she went on the offensive.

With a smirk borrowed from Tristan she leaned in, and quietly, with a nip of his earlobe, asked. "Well, I want to introduce you as my boyfriend?"

Recoiling quickly, Rory looked up into Tristan's now beaming face and a startled Rory was brought into the tightest hug she ever experienced.

"Seal it with a kiss." Tristan said and did. "This is Rory Gilmore, my girlfriend." That has a nice ring to it. I like it very much." Tristan remarked between kisses, "I like it very very much."

"Me too." A breathless Rory managed to let out.

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A/N: Dear readers, never fear, because I am so erratic with my updates, I will write "The End" when I mean the end. This is a very long anticipated chapter, and I hope I've done it justice, if anyone is still lost (crissy) I will clarify in my next update.

Caz- I'm glad to hear I'm still keeping things interesting, truth be told, sometimes I feel like the story line gets a little stagnant, and its hard to push to the next point.

P- In omnia paratus means prepared for all things.

FallenHeart- I think I already apologized for being evil, and short chapters, these two chapters were meant as one, I simply got tired typing half way through that's all.

Till next time, thank you for reading and reviewing.


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I only own my ideas, nothing else.

**Chapter 19**

Three long weeks later saw Rory standing at the arrivals hall of JFK airport in New York. As she scanned the throngs of people flooding out of the gate and into the arms of waiting loved ones, she could not believe exactly how much she had missed Tristan.

Although they had spoken as often as their schedules allowed, it was not enough for Rory. At times, she actually believed the chance encounter with Tristan had been a dream, or at most a fantasy she so desperately wanted to believe in, she had convinced herself of it. The only thing that grounded her and kept her from denying Tristan's existence was the web camera's choppy motion that brought her and Tristan close right before she went to bed so that he could say good night to her.

In Rory's mind, she prepared a mug sheet of sorts, trying to recall all of Tristan's features as to play "match it" with the faces streaming out of the gates. Tristan wasn't expecting her but she couldn't wait the time it would have taken Tristan to make it all the way to Stars Hollow many hours later.

The comfortable feeling Rory had when she thought of Tristan hadn't dissipated during the weeks apart. One would think that such a long distance between a new couple would be a strain, yet they seemed to bear it well. Rory smiled to herself, losing herself in her memory as images of Tristan floated past, then her family and friends, glad to see Rory back to normal, well back to strangeness…since to the Gilmore Girls…well normal would be blasphemous.

Rory squinted, her eyes tired from continually scanning the crowd. The plane landed 30 minutes ago. Where on earth was he!

As her frantic mind calculated the possibility that she had missed him, or that she had taken down the flight information wrong, a man came to stand right in front of her, blocking her view of the sliding doors.

Irritated, Rory verbally berated the dark coat in her view. "Excuse me," Rory began none too politely. "I'm waiting for someone and you're blocking my view. Please move!"

The man simply looked down at the girl before him as she bobbed her head from side to side trying to keep an eye on the people exiting the doors from around her obstruction.

"Why Mary, which other boyfriend are you expecting?" said the man with a smirk.

"For your information I only have one boyfriend. What kind of girl…" Rory began berating the man and then she jumped him with an unGilmore like squeal.

Tristan caught Rory as she launched herself at him and staggered back under her weight.

"You really should cut down on the chunky monkey." He teased.

Her only reply was to punch him then capture his lips to reclaim as her own.

"Now this is more like the reception I imagined. None of that yelling at me to move thing. If I weren't the suave debonair confident man I am, I would have been hurt by your initial welcome. Now what were you thinking of that was capable of distracting you…" Tristan simply held her tighter and smirked.

"Wouldn't you like to know…" Rory left the suggestion hanging as she bounded off…

Tristan simply groaned and picked up his carry on luggage. "I've really been a bad influence on her." And with that, he left to follow his bounding bundle of happiness.

In Rory's car, she questioned his sanity once more. "Are you sure you want to go straight to Stars Hollow? I love it, but I still think a first timer needs to be in top physical and mental form to survive it in generally one piece." She rambled as she nervously twisted at the steering wheel.

"Physical form?" questioned Tristan.

"Why to run away from Miss Patty who will indubitably attempt making you husband number nine, since you're now legal. And potentially Kirk…who will try to wash your car and you and the clothes off your back…for a nominal fee of course."

"Of course." Agreed Tristan remembering Rory's version of the Stars Hollow Interpol. America's most wanted indeed. "Do I even want a refresher about the mental form?" Tristan baited her.

"Well, my mom's final approval remains to be bestowed. You need to remember that she is Lorelai…none of that old stuff people call my grandmother. And you need to be up to date on all types of trivia. Then, it remains to be seen if Luke the supplier of coffee likes you, and if you can survive Doose's accusations that you've broken some obscure law…"

"Well a law degree may come in handy with that little issue…" Tristan started to wonder what had Rory so upset about him meeting her town.

"Rory," Tristan interrupted her stream of thought with her actual name. "What's so horrible about me in your town?"

"Nothing."

"Well there has to be something, last week meeting your town was all you could talk about." Tristan remembered with slight contempt. His male attempts at getting his girlfriend to engage in an adult conversation failed. Her attention being more focused on regaling Tristan with the nitty gritty about her town. With Rory's exuberance at sharing her town with someone, he couldn't rain on her parade and place his hormones first.

"I…I…" Rory tried to voice her feelings, unused to actually confronting issues with a boyfriend, even though she was more accustomed to simply ignoring them or denying them.

"I don't want them to scare you away." Gushed Rory, a bit too fast as to be intelligible.

"What was that again?" teased Tristan.

"I don't want them to scare you away." Rory admitted at a normal speech speed.

"Aw…Mary, trust me, if I was that easy to scare, I would have bolted after seeing you polish off an entire New York steak plus all the fixings." Laughed Tristan. Even then, he gathered Rory up into his arms to reassure her. "Why don't we spend the day in New York then, call it an early night and leave for Stars Hollow tomorrow morning? That way, jet lag will no longer be an issue and baring an adventurous night being horizontal, or vertical.." Tristan was cut off by a punch to his arm. "ok, ok, there will be no reason why I shouldn't be in top physical and mental form to compete for approval from your town of horrors." Tristan cringed in defense against the punching attack he expected from Rory, however, he relaxed and opened his tightly shut eyes when she didn't retaliate. As soon as he thought he was home free, Rory smacked him on the upside of his head.

Later On that day…

"I can't believe you booked us into the presidential suite at the Plaza. Are you crazy?" Rory's voice increased in pitch, incredulous with Tristan's ability to swing the best suite at a landmark hotel.

"Don't worry about it." Tristan said. "I just wanted to be comfortable. And that king sized bed looked really comfortable." Leered Tristan in Rory's general direction.

"Don't do that." Rory cringed.

"Don't do what?" Tristan continued to leer.

"That!" Rory was obviously uncomfortable.

"What!" Tristan feigned innocence and continued to bug her.

"That! You're creepy. You look like a decrepit old man!"

"You forgot cradle robber."

"What?"

Tristan elaborated. "If I'm a decrepit old man, and you, I naturally assume are the forever young you…then I'm also a cradle robber."

"That's just wrong." Rory shuddered.

"Nope, it hasn't been wrong since the invention of Viagra." With that Tristan flopped onto the bed sending his best come hither gaze at Rory.

"Once again, I reiterate," Rory began as she too joined Tristan on the bed and crawled towards him. "Creepy." She whispered as they kissed.

After a very relaxing afternoon snoozing, snogging and snuggling, not necessarily in that order, they decided to go out on the town.

After consuming the largest ice cream sundae Rory had ever seen in the FAO Schwartz toys store, perusing Manolo's at their flagship store and "window shopping" down Fifth Avenue, Tristan and Rory were both exhausted. Rory had enjoyed the afternoon immensely. It was terribly passé to say, but when they walked into the store, since everything about Tristan screamed old money, all the sales associates were in a frenzy to aid them, and they hadn't even been snippy when Rory didn't buy anything.

"I can't believe the attendants were so nice. They're never nice after you tell them you don't want to buy any of the pieces. But some of the coats were so nice…" reminisced Rory.

"Well I'm sure they just enjoyed seeing you in all those beautiful clothes, you make the clothes gorgeous. Are you sure you didn't want the Dolce and Gabanna coat?" prodded Tristan.

He knew exactly why the attendants were so nice to Rory. With all intention of buying her desires for her, as soon as Rory went into the dressing rooms to try things on, Tristan had whipped out his platinum card and simply twirled it about his fingers, proving to the attendants Tristan's willingness, and ability to purchase anything…adding blood to the feeding frenzy to sell items to Rory.

Tristan was pulled abruptly out of his thoughts by Rory's abrupt halt on the sidewalk outside Saks. All colour drained from her face as her eyes remained fixed on a society couple walking towards them. The man's blonde hair and average height flagged a person he knew he should recognize. When he saw the blonde on the man's arm giggle incessantly and speak of summer houses in the Hamptons and on the Vineyard and winter chalets in Aspen and St. Moritz, he knew.

Logan and his "perfect" wife were headed right towards them. A meeting between the two couples was imminent.

Just great. Was Tristan's last thought to himself as Rory pulled herself closer to Tristan, gripping his arm tightly and pressing her side into his in her attempt to hide.

Soothingly he wrapped his arm around her waist and whispered endearments into her ear. As she visibly relaxed, she managed to compose herself moments before Logan spotted them.

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A/N: Ok guys, I know, 2 weeks till an update is a long time. Well, Diana Gabaldon's new Claire and Jamie novel came out, and I just had to read that, in addition to my textbooks and classnotes. And I'm sick. Basically a walking talking drippy nose dragging herself between classes and home. I hope you enjoy this and hopefully I can write the Logan Tristan scene soon. I have no idea how to have it play out…my brain is too foggy to think right now. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

Southerncoffeeaddict- glad you liked amorous. I never actually took the SAT, but if you ever have any word suggestions when my vocab gets repetitive. Please, suggest away!

Oh, and about how Richard and Emily feel about the situation…I think they'd be pleased…I mean Tristan's supposedly responsible, grown up, a charmer, and he's got a title…what more could they want?

But I don't know whether the town people will like him or not? If any readers have an idea of how the town will react to Tristan and Rory's relationship, please help me out with ideas?


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: They are not mine. I don't own anything but my ideas.

**Chapter 20**

"Ace!" exclaimed Logan. "What are you doing here?"

"On a sidewalk in New York?" teased Rory, "Walking of course." Reaching over to wrap her arm around Tristan, she moved to introduce them. "Logan, this is my boyfriend Tristan Dugrey. Tristan this is Logan Huntzberger."

Logan's eyebrows rose as his introduction made no move to identify his as an ex-boyfriend. For a second, his male brain interpreted it as Rory still holding a flame for him. Even if they hadn't parted on good terms, Logan still felt that illogical need to mark Rory as his territory and his girl.

"Dugrey…" began Logan thoughtfully, "I thought you got shipped off to Europe for bad behaviour and how did you and Rory meet? When Ace and I were in a relationship, I don't remember her ever mentioning your name."

"You should know better than to listen to East Coast society gossip." Tristan was trying his hardest not to sink to Logan's level, trying to convince himself that Rory would not appreciate him marking what Logan was interpreting as his new "possession".

"But still, you dropped off the face of the earth. No more society functions, no more charitable donations…" Logan just couldn't stand the idea that Rory could have possibly found another "Logan" socialite, one that was obviously more willing to join his world and Rory's than he was.

"Not really, just some complicated family inheritance stuff. My name changed, one of the requirements you know." Tristan tried to pass it off offhandedly, not wanting to make his new name and title a big deal…but Rory wouldn't have any of that.

"Perhaps you've heard of the Montpensier name?" Rory kept her gaze steady on Logan, "silly me, I knew Tristan in high school so I always just remember him as that spoilt little boy Dugrey…chasing me, it was very much a pull on my pigtails Kindergarten romance. But now he's the Comte de Montpensier." Rory glanced up at Tristan standing beside her and moved to place a hand on his chest as she leaned up and pecked him on the cheek.

The woman with Logan chose this moment to clear her throat and look meaningfully at Logan. Distractedly and dejected with those furrowed eyebrows and narrowed gaze Logan adopted whenever irritated and confused, he introduced her, " 'Stasi, this is my old girlfriend "Ace" Lorelai Gilmore…"

"The third." Rory added in.

"Ace, this is Anastasia Bertwick."

"His fiancée." Completed the blonde with the emphasis on fiancée as she extended one well manicure and expensive hand to Tristan for him to kiss. On that hand, a giant extremely vulgar sized diamond rested on her ring finger.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance." Tristan held her gaze as he slowly brought her hand to his lips as he brushed a quick kiss to her knuckles and turned on the charm.

The inbred looking girl was immediately enchanted with Tristan, and his name, and the wealth and society gossip about the Comte's now groomed and gentleman abilities and his American life as a teenager and his sexual exploits and unconsciously tried her luck with a meaningful and suggestive gaze back.

Tristan simply kept the polite but uninterested smile on his face as he dropped her hand and turned to wrap Rory from behind in his arms, smiling at the other couple. Logan began to fume slightly at the Tristan's perceived poke at Logan's smaller frame than Tristan. Logan had never been able to fully wrap Rory into his body in that protective and comforting fashion. They simply looked on as Logan embarrassed, by how this chance encounter was playing out, had to break the spell over his fiancée induced by Tristan's charm. Whatever game of "mine's bigger" Logan had tried to initiate was stomped into the mud by now, all he could do was carefully extract himself and his pride from the situation as carefully as possible.

"Well it was good running into you Ace, Tristan, a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Logan simply glanced in Tristan's direction and then moved then focused his gaze on Rory.

With what could only be described as a wistful expression in a low voice mostly to himself, Logan whispered, "I'm sure you will have all the best in the future." The regret, pain and resignation of a man who had loved and lost evident in his voice but as quickly as the crack in Logan's public appearance had occurred, he mended the image almost as instantaneously. "I wish we could go and chat about old times, but 'Stasi has an appointment at Elizabeth Arden, so we've got to run." Without even waiting for everyone to exchange proper polite farewells, he grabbed 'Stasi's hand and continued on their way. Unknown to Rory and Tristan he did look back on the couple and thought, Tristan, love her better than I do. He emotionally closed the Rory chapter in his life, realizing that with Tristan by her side, he was obsolete and would not be needed even as a friend in her life.

A few blocks later, Rory was still quiet and pensive about the encounter. Her hand was still held within Tristan's and Rory's free hand was wrapped around their joined hands, gently caressing Tristan's knuckles.

"Caramel for your thoughts?" Tristan broke their amiable silence right outside a Godiva chocolate store. He pulled her inside the store without waiting for her answer and ordered 2 single caramel chocolates from behind the glass counter, and within moments they were back on the sidewalk, him carrying the tiny gold bag dangling it in front of his girlfriend coaxing her thoughts out of her.

"I was just thinking of all the good times Logan and I had. He did love me once, and I think a little part of me will always love him a bit too…but I think you were right when you said on the plane that loving someone isn't always enough. I'm not in love with him anymore. There was too much pain and angst at the end." Rory thoughtfully bit tiny bites out of the chocolate Tristan offered her.

"Well you were right too. That is a business merger, either that or arranged for other reasons." Tristan reflected, Logan's fiancée wasn't just not photogenic, she really did have lovely features, but they were simply arranged badly on her face, eyes too close set, mouth too thin for her face, and she wore expensive things with pomp and pride. Not with the quiet class that Rory and a select number of high class socialites carried themselves with. She may have been raised a socialite, but there would always be something innately crass about her behaviour, perhaps influenced by her continual need to land the best man she could capture, be the most envied…something he was glad Rory didn't know how to do.

After thoughtfully chewing on the last of her caramel, Rory murmured, "I just hope he finds happiness somewhere. It took a lot for him to go back and be what they wanted him to be."

"I do have to admire him for that." Agreed Tristan, "And I would say he had extremely discerning and high quality taste for some girlfriends." Smirking like crazy on the streets of New York, he gathered Rory in his arms and touched noses with her and as they shared a single breath, he whispered, "But I am glad you guys broke up, cause now I stand a chance." As he reverently worshipped Rory's lips and worried her bottom lip with his teeth and tongue trying to capture all taste of caramel and essence of Rory, Rory whispered between kisses.

"You…" Tristan's kisses escaped along her jaw line. "…always…" it was becoming harder for Rory to think as the delicious fog of kisses enveloped all her senses, "…had…", a sharp cold breeze was deflected by the buildings and she instinctively moved closer to Tristan needing to share his warmth and he shifted them to shield her with his body from the cold but the piercing cold cleared her brain a bit. "A chance." She finally completed her thought and looked through dazed eyes at Tristan who now observed her with one eyebrow cocked up in disbelief.

"You and I simply had to convince me first that I wanted it." Rory elaborated. With that relationship insecurity once again reassured, she turned herself around in his arms until he was wrapped around her from behind, his front against her back. Rory tilted her head turned and kissed the underside of the jaw she could reach comfortably from her position. As she snuggled into the warm body of her boyfriend, he groaned. Slightly alarmed Rory pulled away, only to be held tightly by his arms locked around her.

With glazed and grey stormy eyes with as many shades of darkness as a summer storm Tristan managed to smile at the fragile bundle in his arms, "You can not start to imagine the affect you have on me Mary…" Tristan bent his head closer to her ear and whispered an a husky voice only for her, "if we didn't have dinner plans, I'd swing you over my shoulder, call a taxi and high tail it back to that hotel and show you." With a nip of her ear Rory blushed a deep and even ripe peach colour. With horrible realization, Tristan stiffened slightly, aware that he may have stretched the playful line of tension between them too far, and was stiff and alert of the possibility he may have snapped their bond.

Rory still oblivious in her haze reacted instinctually at the loss of Tristan's attention turned her attention to his neck as she once more did a half turn in his arms to face him, as she hugged him tightly and buried her face in her neck kissing his pulse with a short imperceptible caress of her tongue held him for a moment as she felt their racing hearts slow.

"What dinner plans?" she voiced when her brain eventually regained normal operation.

"With Alison and her new boyfriend." Tristan replied as if it was general knowledge.

"Alison and her new boyfriend?" Rory repeated.

"Yes, they called while you were trying on clothes in that last store."

"While I was trying on clothes." Rory's voice was taking on a higher pitch.

"Are you sure I didn't short circuit your brains with my electrifying kisses and touch Miss Mary? You seem to be stuck on mimicking me and repeating everything I say." Struck by a juvenile and terrible idea, Tristan acted on it. With a straight face he said, "Ok, if you're being so compliant…Tristan, I would like to go to bed with you and model the entire Victoria Secret catalogue for you in private."

"Model the entire Victoria Secret catalogue…" unconsciously, repeated Rory followed by a playful punch to her boyfriend's arm. "Model the catalogue my ass!"

"Yup, I'm sure your cute little ass will look delicious in the clothes." Tristan shared his thoughts in a voice only meant for her to hear. With a little pat of Rory's bum he moved from their embrace and continued walking on his way even when Rory was frozen to the spot in disbelief and slight embarrassment at his boldness of patting her bum so casually on the streets. With sudden awareness of her surroundings, she relaxed as she realized none of the New Yorkers were paying attention to their affectionate byplay and no one noticed her boyfriend's slight of hand. A few meters away he stopped and called back at Rory. "Are you coming?" he asked as he extended an open hand in invitation for her to join him. Walking quickly to catch him she grabbed his offered hand and asked, "What are we eating?"

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A/N: Sorry for the long time between updates, I've been miserable the last two weeks, writers block, down and out sick, midterms and lab reports, it feels awfully nice to spend a lazy Saturday morning updating my fanfiction…maybe that's why I ended the chapter on such a nice fluffy note.

It's always glad to hear I make others happy with updates, and I always feel really happy and good about myself when I open my email and see all those nice reviews in return. Thank you for reading and please review.

Have a great weekend everyone!


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: They are not mine. I don't own anything but my ideas.

Previously on A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes…

Tristan ran into Rory on campus at Yale and Rory was not herself. Her break-up with Logan left her devastated and in need of a change. Tristan provided the change in the form of a trip to Singapore. During that trip, Rory and Tristan got together, and when they both came back, during an evening in New York city, they ran into Logan.

**Chapter 21**

"So what's for dinner?" Rory was still bugging Tristan a whole city block later.

"Just wait and see." Tristan's answer hadn't waived since Rory started annoying him.

"But what if I'm not dressed properly?" whined Rory.

"Then I would have taken you back to the hotel under the guise of ravishing you and had you changed your dress." Tristan answered slowly as if speaking to a 2 year old instead of a 20 year old. "You know what, I think my sister is more mature than you some times, and that's saying a lot."

"Fine." Rory started pouting and stomped off ahead, only to turn around seconds later to see Tristan smirking, fresh snowflakes catching on his eyelashes. "Well?"

"Well…we're here."

"Oh." Sheepishly Rory backtracked and took Tristan's arm and entered the lavish lobby.

Upon entering a squeal of delight pulled their attention to a streaking bundle of baby blue with blonde hair that came barrelling past the maitre-d and launched herself at the couple frozen in the entrance.

"Well hello to you too sis…" Tristan was actually embarrassed. "But I'd like to be able to show my face here again, so could you act a little more your age and LET GO?"

Without any heed to her brother's words, Alison grabbed Rory and launched in a tirade of her escapades through Asia and Australia with her new boyfriend.

With a momentary glace of apology directed at the now haughty looking greeter he followed the girls to what he assumed, or hoped was their reserved table. It would have been just like Alison to kick a tantrum until she got a table she wanted if the reserved table was not up to par.

As Tristan approached the table, his fears were confirmed.

"…can you believe it? By the entrance and the window to boot. Granted the window seats are the most coveted during the summer, but during the winter, much too cold, the glass isn't even double paned to starve off the wind. I thought by the fire would be much more cozy." Alison didn't even stop to take a breath. All Rory could do was nod in agreement. As Alison paused to order some Perrier from a passing waiter, Rory finally got her word in edge wise.

"So where's this boyfriend? I can't imagine where you would have met him?" Rory pondered out loud.

"Oh…here and there, we were introduced a little while ago but it really clicked in Thailand."

Alison casually looked at her manicured nails while sending a sly glance at Tristan.

"Really?" Rory was amazed at the girl's ability to attract attention. "He must be someone…half the restaurant is gazing at you like you're a goddess and the other half wants to kill you."

"Really? I hadn't noticed. My new relationship takes up all my attention. In fact, I think he's here now."

Rory and Tristan turned simultaneously to the entrance way that was now glaringly bright from the two police cruisers flashing their red and blue lights right outside the windows.

Rory's face visibly blanched when the all too familiar mop of brown hair emerged from the back of the police cruiser. Around the man's shoulders, a standard issue grey blanket somehow wrapped around the body without hampering the handcuffs.

Barely looking up, Alison acknowledged the man's presence outside the restaurant. "I guess I won."

"You won what!" Tristan's patience was wearing thin as his imagination ran wild trying to figure out what the man did to deserve a police escort to the restaurant and in that state of undress.

As the man entered the restaurant clad in nothing but a man thong with handcuffs and the blanket flanked by cops he called out. " 'ello luv," and moved to kiss Rory on the cheek while grinning at Alison.

"Hi Finn, not that I'm glad to see you, but I don't want to see all of you…WHAT DID YOU DO?" Rory's reporter curiosity got in the way of greeting formalities.

"Excuse me, which one of you is Miss Alison Dugrey?" One of the burly cops demanded.

At this new questioning Alison blanched but acknowledged with the grace of a true debutant and D.A.R. lady. "Yes, what has my friend Finnegan DeBeers done?"

"Climbed the statue of liberty miss. In his state of undress. He stated that he believed that the statue of liberty and freedom of expression meant he could attempt to climb the statue, in –10 degree weather plus windchill in patriotic underwear. When we were called in to book him, we were told to bring him here instead downtown. Said he's a headcase and to release him to his caretaker." The cop's friend looked a little uncomfortable at the scandalous stares the affluent and mature clientele were giving.

"Very well," Alison winked at Finn. "I'll take him off your hands, I swear he was at treatment this afternoon when I left him at Manhattan General. I'm very sorry gentlemen, it won't happen again."

With that the disgruntled cops released Finn and mumbled "Stupid rich kids, nothing better to do than waste country resources…" as they walked off they continued grumbling. Finn, completely impervious to the stares of the restaurant patrons and staff simply pulled up his chair and asked if they had ordered yet.

When Tristan and Rory managed to close their mouths, Tristan's face grew stony cold with anger, anger Rory had never seen before. "So this? THIS! Is your boyfriend? Finn. This is the man you decide to actually make your official boyfriend."

"Well of course not." Alison replied completely indignant. Finn handed Alison a picture from a tiny pouch around his neck. "But now he is." She admitted after closely examining the Polaroid shot.

"Ahem…excuse me sir. I'm not sure what kind of establishment you are used to frequenting, but here…we have a dress code, and you sir definitely do not fit in." The frazzled but haughty maitre-d looked at Finn like Finn was something stuck to gum on the bottom of a shoe.

"Of course my good man, why don't you make yourself useful and make me a proper patron by running over to Neiman Marcus…" Finn pulled his black card and a discrete clientele card out of his little pouch. "…I've got my personal fashion consultant waiting there, she's expecting a call, just tell her where I am, and what my situation is and run over to the store and grab my clothes? Thank you." With that Finn pulled a hundred dollar bill out of the pouch and pressed it into his astonished hand. "Oh and I'd also like a bottle of your Dom…make sure you have at least 3 bottles on hand chilled. And a menu please." Finn dismissed the man by simply turning his back and looking at the other occupants of the table.

"So, Rory, Tristan, I guess you are still doing well." Finn began amicably.

"Finnegan DeBeers, I want answers." Rory practically screeched, scandalized and outraged.

Finn and Alison exchanged looks, "Do you want to explain or should I." Alison queried.

"You see, after Rory left to come back, and since you brother had to stay in Singapore, Finn and I decided to do the whole south east asia thing, first we went to Australia to refuel our engines and so Finn could attend some charity event and then we headed off to Thailand, Bali, Indonesia and the Maldives. Anyways, we were taking an elephant ride through the jungles of Thailand and we finally addressed the issues. He and I both had feelings for each other, but I didn't want to be tied down. I wanted proof that Finn was sincere and that I wasn't just another conquest. So Finn asked what could he do to prove it to me. I thought he was joking and so I challenged him to climb the Statue of Liberty. I think it must have been the heat or the absurdness of the situation, and I didn't think twice about it. We came back here and Finn brought up the idea again and said he'd do one better, he'd do it without clothes and in the middle of winter too." At that Alison looked with amazement at the man sitting beside her even as he moved to hold her hand.

"Actually, that was quite invigorating." Remarked Finn. "You should try it sometime Tristan. Amazing for your health, clears the lungs right up." Finn continued. "A tad cold to do it at this time of the year though. My good man!" Finn called a passing waiter. "A bottle of your finest whiskey." Turning to his friends he continued, " actually it was interesting, it wasn't the usual request for devotion, or expensive gifts, it was something completely absurd, completely illegal… however I do have a confession." Finn turned towards Alison. "I did have the LDB there to whisk me off in an LDB fake police car instead of a real police cruiser. The police truly were on scene, but we just had a little slip of hand and I evaded capture. I'm not so big time I actually want to spend the evening in a New York jail in nothing but a thong with a pouch. At that Finn shuddered, visions of jail dancing through his head.

The rest of the meal passed on relatively uneventfully, the manager arriving at the table and apologizing for not recognizing Mr. DeBeers on site, even in his state of 'dishabille". Finn's clothes arrived from Neiman Marcus in the middle of the soup course and he excused himself and strutted with flair towards the men's restroom followed closely by the porters carrying the clothes.

Shaking her head in disbelief Rory was still in amazement, "after knowing Finn all this time, he never ceases to amaze me." Cocking his eyebrows Tristan raised his glass to the retreating figure, in response Rory and Alison gently knocked their glasses against his in a silent toast to the amazing specimen of man.

"You could bounce quarters off that bum." Mused Alison quietly.

Later on, in the cab back to the hotel, Rory snuggled into Tristan's shoulders. "That was fun," she began. "Somehow I think that relationship is going to be amazingly good for the both of them…"

"or amazingly horrible for my sister." Tristan worried.

"She's a big girl, she can make decisions for her self. I can too you know." Rory said in a know it all voice.

"I know you can," Tristan's arm around Rory tightened and his fingers started dancing up and down the edge of Rory's arm. Even through her thick winter coat, it was enough to send goose bumps all over her flesh. Tristan continued, "just like I know you can decide whether or not you'd like to help me warm my bed up. Two rooms are all well and nice, but one room is more cozy don't you think?"

Rory glanced up at Tristan's face while he was distracted with his daydreams staring blankly at Rory's ear. "Is it really more fun?"

"What?" Tristan's confused gaze brought on a case of the giggles for Rory.

"Staring at my ear." Rory laughed out.

"Well it is a gorgeous ear." Leered Tristan.

"Well that's the second time you've been caught. Do you remember? 10th Grade?" reminisced Rory.

"How could I forget, Ms. Caldecott I believe." Remembered Tristan. "So how am I doing this time? Can I convince you?"

"Well" began Rory innocently, "I don't see much convincing going on here."

"You little…" Tristan started to growl. Rory's comeback and incessant giggling silenced by the seal of Tristan's lips over hers. As quickly as it started the kiss ended. "How was that?" Tristan asked.

"Huh?" Rory was stunned, amazed, and speechless. One little kiss and she felt like her normally clear mind was lost in a fog of happiness. Who cared what was happening in the outside world when he kissed like that. In a moment of blessed naiveté she actually believed that she could live on those kisses and the love shining in his eyes alone. No matter what, no matter what Tristan was feeling at the moment, one look into those guarded eyes told all, if you only had the code.

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A/N: I know I know, Merry Christmas to all my readers, thank you for reading and reviewing. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon. But out of curiosity, when the figure got out of the cop car...did anyone guess it was Dean or Jess or any other brown haired character? I hoped to develop a bit of suspense, or curiosity or reader invovlment. Anyways, thats enough fantasizing..whoops...I mean writing for now. Trorylove out.

Thank you again for your readership. I hope it continues.


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: They are not mine. I don't own anything but my ideas.

I don't want to attempt writing truly intimate scenes yet. I only know what I've read blush and I don't think I could do the intimacy and love between Tristan and Rory properly. However for when they do express themselves ( it wasn't the last chapter ), anyone know a guest writer that may want the job?

**Chapter 22**

"Ok, and Miss Patty?" Rory quizzed while heading down the freeway towards Hartford and subsequently Stars Hollow.

"Back to a wall, charm and politely claim I hear you calling me, kiss her hand so I can then back away from her slyly keeping my gorgeous derriere away from her hands." Tristan shot back with a practiced voice.

"Good, Mr. Doose?" she asked again.

"Say hello, claim how well the market and the ice cream PARLOUR. With accent on the parlour to pay recognition to his pains-taking analness at capturing the essence of the decade." Tristan was quickly boring with her preparation for the interrogation techniques and methods of breaking a man the CIA and FBI stole from her small town.

"And? AND?" Rory's serious treatment of the matter was going from amusing to annoying.

"And," Tristan continued dejected. "I don't move, I don't touch, I don't sit, incase Taylor finds some archaic by-law left over from the days of the witch trials and decided to sentence me to live with a coffee-less Gilmore Girl."

"That's right….HEY!" Rory swerved slightly as she reached over to punch her passenger. "I am completely serious, if you aren't prepared, if you don't know them and their tactics, you don't stand a chance. Rory took the exit off the interstate and continued to drive along until they saw the rooster, marking the borders of home.

"So there's the old cock." Tristan commented.

"Wha?..How do you know about Rodney?" Rory queried.

"There's many things you don't know about me. There are many secrets in my dashing and romance novel worthy life." Rory glanced over at Tristan, consequently bursting out in laughter at his James Bond impersonation.

"I'm sorry, that's just funny. Please don't make that face." Rory gasped out, trying desperately to keep her eyes free from the laugh tears he brought to her face.

"What face?" Tristan played dumb and kept his hideous come hither stare fixed on Rory's now red visage.

"That face. But serious, why?" Rory questioned as she pulled into her driveway.

"No reason." Tristan got quiet all of a sudden.

"Come on, you can tell me." Rory pulled the key out of the ignition and placed her hand just above his knee rubbing comforting circles into the muscle. "Please? Truth remember?"

"Icametoapologize." Tristan mumbled.

"What?" Rory asked softly.

"The day after the winter formal, the one I got into a fight with Dean with. I came to apologize. I drove around the town to find some coffee and get the nerve to speak with you, and I saw…" Tristan looked sick for a moment. "I saw you and Dean still in your formal clothes coming out of a barn."

"Oh." Rory sighed. "Let me explain."

"You don't have to. I don't want to hear it." Tristan spat out. "That was a long time ago and I'm not the same person anymore, but that doesn't mean I want images of you and Dean seared into my present mind." Tristan's grip tightened around the door release handle readying for his flight from the now suffocating closeness of the car.

"Tris?" Rory's voice demanded attention and he drew his eyes from his grip on the door to her face. "Nothing happened that night, I, we, fell asleep reading the book I used to always carry with me. OK?"

As Tristan relaxed, Rory climbed out and called back into the cabin of the car. "I just hope you're prepared for the freak show."

"You know you shouldn't call them freaks." Tristan bantered back.

"Who said I was calling them freaks? You're the oddity here." Rory pranced off towards the house.

"Well then," Tristan spoke to himself a confident smirk spreading across his lips. He pulled out his chapstick and liberally applied it and as he pocketed it and stretched his car cramped back muscles, he continued. "Let the show begin."

As he sauntered towards the two brunettes embracing on the porch he stopped just short of the steps until they emerged from their banter world to acknowledge him.

"Well hello bible boy, it's been a while since I saw you." Lorelai commented without waiting for proper introductions to be made by Rory.

"How do you know each other?" Rory was thoroughly confused. "I thought when I talked about him in high school you had no idea who I was talking about."

"Ah, but you forget the incestuous manner in which the Hartford society biddies operate." Lorelai cackled. Remembering the second cousin marriage incident within the ranks of the Gilmores Rory paled as thoughts of potentially being related to Tristan danced through her head. Tristan on the other hand simply frowned with concentration as he sorted through the various Hartford family trees identifying entangling and forever entrenched branches of the various old money families. In an environment as small as Hartford, it was simply time before all the trees grew large enough and began to interact with each other. As they waited for Lorelai to stop smiling long enough to elucidate the issue, Tristan made his way up the steps of the porch, as he reached the second step to the top the Gilmore Girls let out squeals of warning, his foot came down on the step and fell through. Startled at his now scraped and stuck foot, he looked at the girls.

"Sorry, forgot to warn you." Rory apologized looking at her mom for an explanation at why the termite weakened step had yet to be replaced.

"Luke was with me." Lorelai explained, he hasn't been out of bed for a while, he's been feeling poorly. Coincidently, there was a resounding boom as something heavy fell to the floor somewhere in the vincinity of Lorelai's room. "Which reminds me, you guys are early. I forgot to do something upstairs. Just come in in a few minutes." With that Lorelai ran back into the house and up the stairs.

"Come on, I'll check your foot for you." Rory motioned for Tristan to lean on her so she could help him into the house. Tristan merely looked down at his foot and at her incredulously.

"It's stuck." He claimed.

"It's not, the woods all rotted away, just pull it up." Rory reasoned.

"It's not going to work! There's a lot of splintered wood." Tristan attempted to pull his leg out and winced as he drove wood chips deeper into his skin.

"Wow, it's really stuck! Let me get the saw." Rory started. "I'm sure you'll still be as handsome without a foot."

"Rory…" Tristan growled in warning, even if she was just kidding, even the joke was too much to take at the moment.

"Fine, I'll get Luke." Rory bounded into the house, ran up the stairs, screamed and promptly ran back down with her eyes scrunched closed. "I DIDN"T NEED TO SEE THAT MUCH! MOM!" She literally screeched. In a slightly lower decibel level she continued. "Tristan's foot is stuck! Luke, I need to you cut the board out so we can slowly get his foot out. When Luke finally emerged into Tristan's view tucking in his shirt he cursed.

"Geez." Luke exclaimed, "Lorelai I told you that step was a hazard, you should have let me take care of it instead of dragging me around the country!" Gruffly he exchanged stilted pleasantries with the pained GQ model lookalike.

"Luke."

"Tristan"

"I know."

The handshake exchanged was more like a penny arcade game that tested the strength of the competitors. "Let me go get the tool box and we'll see what we can do before the entire town is notified. I'd give it about 5 more minutes before we get bystanders." As he scanned the landscape behind Tristan his face blanched and he sent a sorry glance at Tristan.

"Too late," Lorelai's voice explained to Tristan who due to his current painful position couldn't look behind him. "This isn't even going to be a fun encounter. It's no fair when the prey is trapped. It's like hunting a tiger at the zoo! And I was so looking forward to this." Rory's head popped out from behind her mother and sent him a sympathetic glance. In a stage whisper she warned Tristan.

"Don't clench."

Forgetting all that he learned in the car, he shot back "I'm not, I'm perfectly relaxed."

Simply shaking her head she gave a countdown with her fingers in his view. 3, 2, 1.

"Well look here." Tristan instinctively clenched his buttocks anticipating the pinch that followed. Only after his hands went to rub the newest painful spot on his body did the logic of Rory's warning catch up. This was definitely not how he imagined meeting the town. If Miss Patty had booked it from the dance studio, that could only mean the rest of the town was on her heels, this was unfair, he couldn't even face them head on, his two cheeks would have to take the abuse with no relief in sight. As Rory came forward and held his hand and tried to put her abused boyfriend at ease, Tristan surpressed a shiver as he felt eyes scan his back up and down, up and down. Thankfully, Luke came back around the side of the house carrying a massive saw. Relief that his ordeal was nearly up caused him to slouch forward and lean into Rory slightly, he didn't even flinch as Miss Patty with an apologetic look towards Rory at having her boyfriend in such a position to meet the town and a predatory grin towards Tristan the likes of which he hadn't seen since a similar one graced his face so many years ago slapped his butt and went to join the hoards of onlookers now gathering.

As Luke put the saw into position and was ready to start cutting a domineering voice cut above the excited murmur of the crowd. "WAIT!"

All eyes turned towards the voice including Tristan which simply resulted in an agonized groan coming out of what he realized was himself. Taylor Doose was standing in his old ice cream parlour uniform of a striped vest and bowler hat holding a tattered decrepit document in his hands. "In the name of the Stars Hollow Preservation society I demand you stop construction."

"What the hell?" Luke was already exasperated at Taylor and immediately entered into a heated argument.

"This house is on historical land, even though its been renovated, I wasn't aware of its special nature and I must insist that any renovations or improvements be approved by the Stars Hollow Preservation society." Taylor snidely remarked.

"Taylor, the boy is stuck!" Luke yelled getting red and starting wave his hands around his head. Poor Tristan winced at the boy reference and Rory could only sit there, as Tristan no longer let her comfort him, not wanting to show weakness in front of the entire town.

"Well that IS an unfortunate situation, but it simply can not be avoided. We need approval of the board of the Stars Hollow Preservation society." Taylor simply wouldn't budge.

"YOU ARE THE BOARD!" Luke roared. "Twickham died and he was the only other silent member."

"That is true, and very fortunate for you." Taylor directed at Tristan. "However who submits the application is vague. Lorelai and Luke are the owners of the property now, but as a historic property, the land once belonged to the Doodies which eventually changed their names to the Dooses which means I'm responsible for the historic preservation of this property. And I for one, would like to bring in a third party appraiser to comment on how the destruction of the original front porch wooden steps would affect the historic classification of the property."

"Taylor for heavens sake, the boy could die from infection before then." Babette added. "Morrie and I have seen what a death trap that porch is, just let Luke cut it."

"I think you're right." A male voice from the crowd offered. "Taylor should follow the regulations."

Both Rory and Tristan's eyes narrowed and Tristan craned his neck around and through his peripheral vision caught sight of a blurry tall brown haired figure. "Bag boy." Tristan cursed under his breath.

Kirk siddled up to Taylor. "You know Taylor, for a small fee I would be willing to offer my services to you. I'm a trained antiquity and historical appraiser. I got my certificate through a mail order service. Completely genuine I assure you." Taylor's eyes lit up as they began to discuss pricing.

"This is absolutely ridiculous." Lorelai's voice ran out from behind Taylor. "Let me end this once and for all." Revealing the axe hidden behind her head, she wielded the axe above her head and ran straight towards the porch with Taylor in her path. Running at full speed towards Taylor, Taylor looked smugly confident of Lorelai's bluff before jumping out of harms way at the last second. Lorelai let momentum carry her towards the stairs and Tristan and Luke covered his eyes, saying a prayer and hoping for the best. Rory's eyes closed as did Tristan's and both their bodies tensed. TWACK!

"There, the stairs really are broken now." Lorelai's axe had lodged on the other side of the porch on a different step. "Now these are my steps regardless of who you say the property once belonged to. And if I decide to leave Tristan there it's my choice. However, I have other more sadistic ways of torturing Rory's boyfriends, so the show's over." Lorelai continued to stare off Taylor even as she motioned Luke to start actually freeing Tristan's leg.

Hours and one trip to Hartford hospital later, Tristan was resting inside the Gilmore Girl's house comfortably drugged up, his gauze-covered ankle propped up on a pillow and his girlfriend cuddled into his side.

Rory broke the comfortable silence. "I should have known no matter what, things never go as planned around here." As she leaned up to kiss his lips she whispered, "Sorry."

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A/N: Dear Readers, so somehow the plot I had in mind never occured in this chapter. Just random funny things linked together nicely into a neat and extended chapter. When I read what I wrote, I liked it, I don't think my plot's been done before in this way. The butt pinching, yes, the interactions, yes, but I didn't want the usual Luke "be good to her or die" and I didn't want any over done story lines. We're all familiar with those, and although they're like hot chocolate on a winters day...sometimes we want to try something new. Thank you for reading and reviewing and loyally checking for my updates. Hopefully this term I'll be better about satisfying my writing urges. Lots of love and have a Happy New Year. -Trorylove


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

"If you hurt her…"

"ugggghhhhhhhhhh…"

"I'll track you down, title or not and give you a new title, R.I.P, actually, maybe not even that, I'll send you down to Davey Jones' locker, hope you have the combination for the lock, I hate locks, they never wanted to open for me, all the pleading in the world did nothing! You should be used to lockers by now right? High school, military school, boarding school?" Lorelai's rant to the drugged out and now tied down Tristan was interrupted by a pyjama clad Rory standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

"You couldn't wait until he was at least lucid?" Rory commented scandalized.

"He is lucid." Lorelai complained, while hitting Tristan on the arm again causing him to grunt as the movement shifted his leg. He however, remained blissfully asleep due to the wonderful side effects of painkillers.

"ugggggghhhhhhhhhh…" Tristan once again moaned.

"Mom," Rory continued. "Seriously, are you going to do this with every boyfriend?"

"Nope, cause I don't think I'll have to. That's why I'm doing it while he will have no memory." Lorelai waved her hands around imitating mist, "he'll think it was just a terrific dream with a gorgeous leading lady and the warning he must have been expecting."

"Do you really think?" Rory pondered out loud. "It's only been a while and I haven't seen him in ages."

"How long is ages?"

"27, no 28, it's after midnight, days now? He had to finish up some business before he could join me."

"Check and mate."

"No. We're just starting to ease into the relationship, I don't want to scare him away, can you please not talk so loud?" Rory stage whispered.

"Point and match."

"What's with all the game references?" Rory still whispered.

"Fine then. Tristan and Rory sitting in a tree…" sing-song went Lorelai.

"I give up." Rory turned on her heel and sleepily made her way back to her bedroom. "Just remember to untie him when you're done? I don't want to have to explain to Luke or Tristan what your scarves are doing binding Tristan to the couch."

"I won't have to explain to Luke, he'd understand, protecting the purity of his step-daughter and all that. Either that or he realized I couldn't resist my daughter's boyfriend." Taunted Lorelai.

"Ew, gross mom…well then I don't want to have to explain to Tristan." Rory entered the sanctuary of her childhood room. To herself she admitted, "though he probably wouldn't be surprised." Rory filed that information away just like every other idea she ever had and snuggled into the covers. Taking stock of the day as a means of finding sleep, she admitted, "All in all, that turned out better than could be expected. At least Taylor didn't rope Tristan into being the first victim of the newly renovated town stockade." The image of Tristan's hands and head captive in the stocks leaving his bum exposed and presented to the likes of Patty and Babette had Rory chuckling.

The next morning, Rory was awoken by the loud hobbling of a lame man.

Following a large crash in the kitchen, followed by cursing, Rory got up and peeked through the door. "I see you've found the pop tarts." Rory stifled a giggle. "How are you feeling this morning."

"Awful actually, I'm never taking another one of those painkillers again. The side effects were really weird, the dreams I could handle, but it feels like I've been poked and prodded by aliens all night. If I didn't believe in them before, I do now, I've even got sore wrists from being held down." As Tristan evaluated his sore body his lower brain woke up and took control. "Mary, Mary, my dear Mary," the predatory gleam in his eye did not match well with his invalid's hobble. So much so that Rory giggled. "If you wanted to have your naughty way with me, you would have had a very willing participant. You know that right?" As he reached Rory and pulled her into a warm, tight embrace, she was amazed, that she had not noticed before, even when Tristan pulled a suave practiced move on her that he knew should make her swoon, he still tried to reassure her, consciously or not. Rory was brought out of her thoughts when she realized he was still talking. "Next time," Tristan began reproachfully, "I want to be fully lucid and capable of participating." He gave her a once over and brought his eyes back her hers. As he leaned in to kiss her, she suddenly clapped a hand over her mouth leaving him to kiss her fingers, he did so, with raised eyebrows at her actions and proceeded to lick the grooves between her finger. "Come on my sweet," he cajoled. "Let Tristan in."

Rory vehemently shook her head no, blushing a deep red from Tristan's convincing touch. "Morning bread." She mumbled still not releasing her fingers.

"What?" Tristan barely replied, instead occupying and amusing himself by running his hands up and down Rory's arms and back.

Rory thought Tristan was finally distracted enough that he would ignore her mouth and removed her fingers. "Morning brea…" Her words were literally sucked right out of her as Tristan attacked her mouth scorching her in the early morning chill and branding her as his.

As he sauntered off (as best as he could) to put on the coffee pot, he called over his shoulder at his stunned girlfriend. "Oh, about that, I don't care." Leaving Rory kissed senseless in her doorway, her first coherent though being "minty" as she rubbed her tongue against the roof of her mouth.

As the household sat around the table sipping coffee watching Luke expertly flip pancakes from the griddle onto the plate, the uncomfortable feeling Tristan was having grew and grew and grew. Lorelai was looking at him with a smirk that unnerved even himself. Rory was purposely avoiding eye contact with anyone in the room and evidently found her coffee this morning to be fascinating. Luke however was trying to retain a semblance of normal as he continued to attempt to start conversation. That however was nipped in the bud by one word distracted answers, as everyone seemed pretty intent on continuing the standoff.

The doorbell rang and no one moved to answer it. Luke growled as the doorbell continued and continued to ring finally deciding to let the bacon burn and answer the door himself.

"Tristan, its for you." Luke gruffly handed Tristan a thin Fed-Ex envelope. "I signed for you." And with that Luke turned his attention back to his burning bacon.

The arrival of the package was enough to pique Rory's interest enough to tear her eyes away from her coffee mug. Now with a focus subject Tristan talked half to his curious audience and half to himself. "No one really knows your address, I wanted to keep it secret from my PR people and the public. The only one who knows is Walter in case there was a major emergency. But if it was time sensitive, he would have called my cell."

The musical tones of Tristan's cell phone did not sit well with the occupants of the kitchen. Tristan decided to open the package first opting to call the person back later. Without a single care for the package Tristan attacked it ripping open the entire side of the envelope instead of simply slitting the seal. Three different European magazines fell out. Tristan's face blanched at the sight of the front covers showing his tan consisted more of a healthy constitution than the pigmentation of the skin. The look on Rory's face horrified him, he hadn't wanted this to happen. Realistically he knew that eventually she would have to come to terms with it, but not like this, not when the relationship was still new and still volatile.

Rory's horrified voice came out not squeaky and small as he expected, but eerily calm and low. "Why am I on the cover of these magazines?" Rory turned to Tristan, the trust in her eyes evident. For now, she was keeping calm and collected. He would have to make the most of it and explain.

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A/N: Well, I know cliffs are evil, and to leave you hanging horrible. But at least the story is continuing. I had entertained the thought of Tristan simply renouncing his title and living in relative obscurity in Stars Hollow with Rory happily ever after, with a few strange and amusing adventures, but then I realized there is still too much unresolved plot running though my head. I'll try to update in the next few days. Gilmore Girls is on tonight. I really hope Rory and Logan get back together. Since Tristan coming back to the show is almost impossible, Logan is the next best thing…and he's cute too P. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. It really makes my days better.

Till next time Trorylove


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